Jacob Rees-Mogg has accused Rachel Reeves of “pure hypocrisy” after she announced she was appointing a Covid corruption commissioner when she herself lobbied ministers on behalf of third parties.
Speaking on GB News, he said: “The Chancellor Rachel Reeves did not mince her words when she addressed…the Labour Party conference.
“Well, actually, I set up the Public Sector Fraud Authority two years ago, doing exactly the same thing, because nobody wants fraud in government.
“So you do have to admire the audacity of it because it was Rachel Reeves herself who petitioned Michael Gove to grant PPE contracts to a number of parties, one of whom was a football agent who supposedly offered ventilators, while another was a medieval silk bodice manufacturer who claimed to be ready to produce medical grade gowns.
“When the pandemic hit, the world and his wife, globally, were looking for PPE, and every MP got letters, emails, texts saying we can help you get PPE.
“And I don't actually particularly criticise Rachel Reeves for sending in a suggestion from a medieval bodice maker, because you didn't know whether they could do it or not, and the need was urgent. And therefore it was worth sending it in, in case it was true.
“She did the right thing then. But now it's just pure hypocrisy.
“The percentage [of PPE] that was unusable was about 2%. It wasn’t ‘unusable’, It wasn't used - the two are completely different concepts.
“It fitted the specification, but we ordered much more than we needed, along with the rest of the world. And this was a question of supply and demand. Prices went shooting up because everybody in the world wanted it.”
