Sajid Javid has been urged to “come clean” after demanding more time to publish details of ministerial meetings over lucrative Covid contracts.
The Health Secretary was ordered in November to publish details of a meeting between then-Health Minister Lord Bethell and testing firm Randox.
Owen Paterson - the disgraced former Tory MP who was on the firm's payroll - was also at the meeting in April 2020.
Randox was handed some £60m worth of Covid testing contracts.
After the government initially said it could "not locate" the meeting minutes, Mr Javid promised to publish documents by the end of January.
This morning, Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told MPs Mr Javid now said he may need another week and a half to publish the documents.
And in an extraordinary twist, the Health Secretary claimed nearly 11,000 documents had now been found which could fit the criteria.
Last year, the Mirror attempted to obtain under Freedom of Information laws, correspondence between Lord Bethell, Owen Paterson and representatives of Randox for the month either side of the meeting.
The Department responded to say it "does not hold the information".
Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds said: “Another day, another example of the paralysis of a Tory Government up to its eyes in sleaze and scandal. 76 days since promising to publish the minutes of the secret meeting between Randox, Owen Paterson and Lord Bethell, it’s unacceptable that ministers can’t even produce them by their own deadline.
“The Government can’t kick the can down the road on this forever. If the documents don’t exist, ministers should come clean and explain why a meeting leading to a multi-million pound testing contract took place totally off the books.
“The Conservatives wasted billions on crony contracts and lost billions more on fraud. Families facing higher taxes this spring will wonder why they’re bearing the brunt of this Tory government’s failure to protect public money.”
A spokesperson for Randox said the firm had been given its initial contract ten days before the meeting in question.
They said: “Anneliese Dodds is wrong to describe this meeting in April as one ‘leading to a multi-million pound testing contract’. Randox had signed its contract with the government ten days prior to the April meeting.
"The contract was awarded in full compliance with all procedures and protocols in place at a time of national emergency.”
Randox, which has donated £160,000 to the Conservative Party - as well as paying Mr Paterson £100,000 a year for advice - secured government testing deals at the height of the pandemic.
In November, the Commons passed a motion ordering the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to publish details of the meeting.
Mr Javid confirmed work was "underway" to "gather, review and prepare" details of the meeting - and set a deadline of yesterday for publication.
In response to a Point of Order from Ms Dodds, in the Commons, Sir Lindsay said: "The Secretary of State for Health did notify me yesterday that he would confirm the relevant materials would be relayed by the February recess."
Parliament rises for its' February recess at the end of the day on February 10.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have followed a rigorous process to identify all relevant information, reviewing over 11,000 documents against the terms of the Humble Address. This exercise has absorbed significant Departmental resources and has also been balanced against other priorities including COVID-19 related work.
“Given the scale of the task and the importance of ensuring Parliament receives a fully quality assured response to its motion, we will lay the relevant materials before the February recess.”
