The Hanbury furore has set an unwelcome precedent in the use of taxpayers’ money for political purposes

The government will find it hard to take the moral high ground on any future use of public money for politically ambiguous projects, writes Sean O’Grady

Cummings has defended the government’s management of the pandemic (BBC)

After months of rumours and allegations about the possible misuse of taxpayers’ money by senior government figures for political opinion polling, confirmation has come – via a legal challenge by the Good Law Project – that it did indeed take place, and that those involved were conscious that what they were doing was at least extraordinary.

As the Covid crisis started to escalate last year, Dominic Cummings, Ben Warner and Michael Gove do indeed appear to have awarded a contract worth some £560,000 to a company headed by a close former associate from the Vote Leave campaign. Hanbury Strategy is run by Paul Stephenson, who had served as special adviser to Tory ministers Andrew Lansley and Philip Hammond.

The contract was ordered by Cummings, who said that it was on the direct orders of the prime minister, Boris Johnson, previously the face of Vote Leave. There was to be no due process, no tendering, and not even cursory oversight of the transaction; and it was to happen immediately. In the words of one Cummings email: “Anybody in CABOFF whines tell them I ordered it from PM.”