Johnson government wasted £10bn on PPE, Covid inquiry finds

Heather Hallett’s report found the nation’s stockpile of PPE and other vital healthcare equipment was inadequate at the start of the pandemic. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Boris Johnson’s government wasted £10bn of public money because of the flawed way it went about buying personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, an official inquiry has concluded.

The Covid-19 inquiry chair, Heather Hallett, also criticised the then Conservative government’s controversial “VIP lane”, which gave high priority for PPE contracts to companies with political connections to the Tories.