PMQs: Sir Keir Starmer attacks £130m spent on PR firms
- Published
Sir Keir Starmer questions the prime minister on a £150m contract to deliver face masks
The government has paid £130m to public relations firms since January - some with links to top Conservatives, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The Labour leader demanded more transparency over how taxpayers' money was being spent during the pandemic.
He also accused the government of "spraying" money at PPE and testing companies "that don't deliver".
The PM said private firms were leading the fight against Covid "no matter how much the party opposite may hate them".
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir said: "There's a sharp contrast between the way the government sprays money at companies that don't deliver and their reluctance to provide long-term support to businesses and working people at the sharp end of this crisis."
Giving the example of a company awarded "about £150m" to produce face masks, Sir Keir said the government has "a lax attitude to taxpayers' money", adding: "How many usable face masks were actually provided to NHS workers on the front line under that contract?"
'Scientific breakthroughs'
Mr Johnson replied: "We're in the middle of a global pandemic in which this government has so far secured and delivered 32 billion items of personal protective equipment.
"And yes, it is absolutely correct that it has been necessary to work with the private sector, with manufacturers who provide equipment such as this - some of them more effectively than others.
"But it is the private sector that in the end makes the PPE, it is the private sector that provides the testing equipment, and it is the private sector that, no matter how much the party opposite may hate them, it is the private sector that provides the vaccines and the scientific breakthroughs."
Boris Johnson defends the use of private companies
Labour claims 23 different communications consultancies have been used by the government since January, at a cost of more than £130m, in addition to in-house PR people and special advisers.
'Take it back'
The party has singled out the head of the government's Vaccine Taskforce. Katie Bingham, for criticism over the £670,000 she reportedly spent on PR advisers.
Ms Bingham stepped back from her full-time role as a managing partner at SV Health Investors - a life sciences venture capital firm - to take on the unpaid role. She is due to stand down next month.
Sir Keir asked the prime minister if he thought the taskforce's PR bill was "a reasonable use of taxpayers' money".
Mr Johnson said the Labour leader should be paying tribute to the Vaccines Taskforce "for securing 40 million doses".
"The expenditure to which he refers was to help raise awareness of vaccines, to fight the anti-vaxxers and to persuade the people of this country - 300,000 - to take part in trials without which we can't have vaccines."