Priti Patel accused of lobbying over £20m PPE deal

HOME secretary Priti Patel will be facing the Commons over allegations of lobbying a fellow minister last year and trying to sway the awards of personal protective equipment (PPE) contract worth £20 million. 

Documents show that the home secretary wrote to Michael Gove in May last year as an attempt to secure a PPE deal for the healthcare firm Pharmaceuticals Direct Ltd (PDL).

"I would be most grateful if you could review this matter urgently," she wrote in the letter revealed by Daily Mail that has come to light as part of a legal challenge by Good Law Project, the campaign group which took the government to court over not publishing PPE contracts.

Health secretary Matt Hancock reportedly wrote back to Patel saying that the masks being offered by the firm were "not suitable for use in the NHS". The possible deal was worth £20 million.

However, weeks later in July, PDL was awarded a £102.7 million contract to supply a different type of mask. Good Law is taking legal action over this contract.

Patel’s alleged link in PDL is conservative activist Samir Jassal. According to his social media, he worked as her adviser between 2014 and 2015 and describes her as a "good friend".

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner and shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds have already demanded an inquiry by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case into the matter. It is being claimed that Patel did not have any interest in the PPE deal until contacted by Jassal, suggesting she did it as a favor to her friend.

"This would represent a glaring and flagrant breach of the ministerial code," the Labour party said, referring to the set of rules for ministers' conduct which says that ministers must ensure that no conflict arises between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.

Thomas-Symonds is set to put down an Urgent Question in this matter, which would require Patel to give a full account to MPs. 

Defying the allegations, Patel's spokesman said the home secretary acted as she should have.

"The home secretary rightly followed up representations made to her about the vital supply of PPE," the spokesman said. "During a time of national crisis, failure to do so would have been a dereliction of duty."

Jassal and PDL are yet to comment on the matter.