Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings have been accused of “theft” by using public money to carry out political polling on opponents.
Court documents have been uncovered showing the Cabinet Office Minister and the former Downing Street adviser directed civil servants to use taxpayers’ money to conduct “political polling” on opposition figures, including Keir Starmer and Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Deputy Leader demanded for a “fully independent inquiry” to get to the bottom of the scandal unearthed in a court case by the Good Law campaign.
Rayner said: “This has the hallmarks of a racket, not a government acting in the national interest during a pandemic.”
“Taxpayers’ money that has been abused in this way should be paid back by the Conservative Party. Taxpayers’ money is not the personal cashpoint of Conservative Ministers to dish out to their mates.”
The SNP has already called for an independent investigation into the UK government’s use of Covid polling for “political purposes” by asking people about their views on Scottish independence.
A £560,000 Covid research contract with a public affairs firm Public First was extended on Gove’s orders to cover research on “attitudes to the UK union”.
In the latest disclosure a lucrative public contract was given to the Hanbury company, run by associates of Gove and Cummings, without competition.
The papers disclosed by the Good Law Project, which is taking the government to court for transparency over covid contracts, disclosed how orders to spend public money polling on opposition politicians left civil servants deeply uncomfortable.
One civil servant said in an e-mail disclosed in court documents: “Hanbury measure attitude towards political figures, which they shouldn’t do using government money, but they have been asked to and it’s a battle that I think is hard to fight.”
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The evidence also shows Dominic Cummings’ close ally from the Vote Leave campaign and former Number 10 advisor, Ben Warner, was directing civil servants to use his private WhatsApp rather than his official government email address.
In one email to civil servants, Warner stated: “Often its easier to catch me over WhatsApp than email.”
The Government has not disclosed any of Warner’s WhatsApp messages in the court case.
One civil servant wrote: “This all makes me really uncomfortable. Ben Warner wants us to spend £110k of public money per month with the agency who were behind Vote Leave who have no mainstream polling experience.”
Documents unearthed in the course of our hearing also include a March 2020 email from Dominic Cummings to civil servants demanding approval is given “immediately” for Hanbury to commence polling work, adding: “Anybody in CABOFF (Cabinet Office) whines tell them I ordered it from PM”.
The Good Law project stated: “This money doesn’t belong to the Tories. They shouldn’t be spending it working out how to win elections. It’s public money from taxes we all work hard to pay. It’s a kind of theft for them to misuse it for the purposes of the Conservative Party.”
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "There are ongoing legal proceeding so I can't comment specifically.
"But, in general, in response to what was an unprecedented global pandemic, it was vital that we undertook research into public attitudes and behaviours."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiVWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRhaWx5cmVjb3JkLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvcG9saXRpY3MvbWljaGFlbC1nb3ZlLWFjY3VzZWQtdGhlZnQtdXNpbmctMjQ2NDMyODHSAQA?oc=5
2021-07-29 11:28:53Z
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