“Why don’t we talk about Owen Paterson’s lobbying health ministers on behalf of Randox.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting took the Tories apart after they tried to falsely accuse the Labour Party of cronyism, as he pointed out a litany of cronyism scandals the opposition had been involved in when in office.
Streeting was responding to Tory criticism of his decision to invite former New Labour cabinet minister Alan Milburn into his department to give advice.
Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins asked about Milburn’s private sector interests and what documents he had access to in the Department of Health and Social Care.
She said: “This is just more evidence of cronyism at the heart of this new Labour government”, while completely forgetting how cronyism from her party had eroded trust in politics and led to the Tories being booted from office.
Streeting replied: “If she wants to lead with her chin and talk cronyism, let’s talk cronyism.
“Why don’t we talk about Owen Paterson’s lobbying health ministers on behalf of Randox.
“They cared so much about cronyism they welcomed back Lord Cameron with open arms following his paid lobbying for Greensill.
“And for reasons of ongoing court cases, let’s not even get into Baroness Mone and the £200m contract for PPE.
“Where was she during those sorry episodes? Cheering that government on, and presiding over a record of abysmal failure that’s put them on that side of the chamber.
“Not only is this government having to rebuild the public services they broke and rebuild the public finances they raided; we’re also having to rebuild the trust in politics that they destroyed.
“We will put politics back into the service of working people, rebuild all three and clearly we will have to do it without the support of the Conservative Party’s one nation tradition because they are not even running and they have abandoned their flag.
“It’s clear the Conservatives haven’t learned a thing from the defeat they were subjected to on July 4, and we’ll get on with the business of clearing up their mess.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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