Evening Standard Comment: High Court’s PPE ruling on ‘VIP lanes’ is a victory for transparency

It’s about accountability. Public money should not only be spent well, but be seen to be spent well.

That is why campaigners such as the Good Law Project should be praised for their efforts in bringing a judicial review against the Department for Health and Social Care over so-called “VIP lanes”.

Yesterday, the High Court ruled that the Government’s decision to provide priority access for multi-million pound PPE contracts at the start of the pandemic was “illegal”.

While the judge acknowledged that two firms, Ayanda and PestFix, would likely have been fast-tracked to deals without preferential treatment due to the amount of PPE they were offering to provide, this ruling is a victory for campaigners.

The Good Law Project rightly points to the substantial amounts of PPE provided by some businesses that were subsequently deemed unusable in the NHS. The Government meanwhile is facing renewed calls to bring forward the Covid-19 public inquiry, which must look into procurement.

The public is prepared to accept that in a crisis, the Government has to move fast. But taxpayer money must always be above reproach, and can never be used, or have the appearance of being used, to favour firms with the best contacts books.