Forget due process. ‘Chumocracy’ is far more valuable to the Conservative government

The Tories seem fine signing off millions to be outsourced to friends. Why can’t they find the sums to support businesses in Greater Manchester, or feed hungry and vulnerable children over half term?

Cronyism. Chumocracy. One rule for them, another for everyone else.  

Describe it however you want, but the past few months has painted a damning picture of the Tories’ slapdash approach to governing – one that is wasting taxpayers’ money and ignoring due process, all while placing favours for their friends above delivering for our local communities.  

This week, we’ve seen the problem spill over the brim, as the National Audit Office released its investigation into government procurement during the pandemic – something I called for over summer as these worrying patterns on outsourcing began to emerge.  

It does not make for a comfortable read, revealing that those organisations recommended by ministers and Tory MPs for the “VIP” procurement route were 10 times more likely to be awarded a public contract than others.  

At best, the report exposes this highly incompetent and shambolic government which can’t even get basic paperwork right. At worst, it suggests the Tories might be deliberately attempting to cover tracks of cronyism, avoid scrutiny and withhold information from the public.  

We see new stories on this cronyism, week in, week out.  

Ministers squandering millions on PPE that can’t be used safely or within use-by dates, with experienced businesses overlooked in favour of a former Tory councillor’s outfit.  

A Scottish business that’s given sizable donations to the Tory party has won a £93m emergency PPE contract.  

In fact, Labour’s analysis a month ago showed that £1bn worth of contracts had lined their pals’ pockets. This figure now stands at more than £1.5bn.  

This isn’t just a growing catalogue of waste and scandal. It’s also the clearest indicator of how little this Tory government values the worth of taxpayers’ money, and our local communities.  

By handing work to only a handful of private companies and to its friends and donors, this government is paying for jobs that are overpromised and, in many cases, undelivered.  

Its approach suggests it doesn’t understand our communities – the organic infrastructures they’ve built despite years of Tory cuts to their councils – or the delicate but dedicated networks which have appeared during this crisis.  

Contact tracing is the clearest example of this failure in England. After years of hollowing out our local public services, the Tories settled for their go-to of outsourcing a service that needs a strong local element, shrugging their shoulders of the austerity that led them down that path.  

This is despite the advice of the World Health Organisation, and best practice from countries that have managed to curb the spread of the virus, suggesting that a strongly localised contact tracing system is what works.  

Not only was a substantial part of this work outsourced to a company led by a Tory party donor, the huge sums spent on it have, week after week, had, as Sage described, a “marginal” impact on slowing the spread.  

Even after months of evidence of an effective and locally led response by the Welsh government, and too many examples of local councils picking up the pieces, the government has not given enough support and control to local communities on contact tracing.  

This reliance on outsourcing, linked too often to cronyism, is a vicious circle.  

Instead of putting money back into our communities to build crucial infrastructure – not least needed for the intense, local logistics required for distributing a vaccine – the Tories continue to hand huge contracts to a select group of people.  

This spreads wide into their ethos. The Tories seem fine signing off millions to be outsourced to friends, but can’t find the sums to support businesses in Greater Manchester, or provide hungry and vulnerable children with food over half term.  

And this not only weakens our communities – it leaves qualified and experienced British businesses wondering why their lack of personal connections have left them out in the cold.  

This week’s National Audit Office report makes it clear: a lack of transparency, cronyism, missing documents, backdating contracts and gaps in addressing conflicts of interest have marred this government’s procurement process.  

Labour is clear: this Tory government has got to clean up its act – and fast. This cronyism and sheer waste has got to stop. It should invest in our local communities and qualified British businesses first.  

With the departure of his own chums from No 10, Boris Johnson should get ahead of this now – and make it clear he will put this culture of chumocracy to bed once and for all.

Rachel Reeves is the shadow minister for the Cabinet Office and shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. She is the Labour MP for Leeds West