Latest updates: leader says unions have ‘duty to coordinate’ as workers face ‘paltry pay rises’
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, told the Today programme this morning that the existence of the so-called “VIP lane”, which allowed people with links to government ministers to get their bids for PPE contracts fast tracked for consideration during Covid, was “a scandal of epic proportions”. She said it enabled some Tories to get rich from the pandemic.
Explaining why Labour has tabled a humble addresss motion, which would force the government to release paperwork relating to the award of PPE contracts to PPE Medpro, the firm reportedly linked to Tory peer Lady Mone, Rayner said:
This looks very dodgy – people making huge sums of money on PPE that couldn’t be used. It needs to be exposed now. Those documents need to come out and it needs to be out in the open.
This is a militant government that is not dealing with the issues and not resolving this strike action and it’s frustrating.
The system is absolutely crumbling without the strikes. Anyone who gets on a train now in the North knows that you’re praying if you’re going to get to where you need to get to. Many businesses are now losing staff because they can’t get to work.
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