Tom Hayhoe’s 12‑month COVID‑corruption stint leaves the UK with a mystery twist
According to Blick Rothenberg, the newly minted COVID corruption commissioner is probably not going to help the government recover a huge chunk of taxpayers’ money.
What the firm’s partner says
Fiona Fernie, a partner at the firm, aired her doubts: “Why would Rachel Reeves think that a 12‑month appointment will crack the case open when big investigations like the National Audit Office review (Nov 2020) and the Boardman review (2021) already tried and failed?”
She added that the timeline is “simply too short for a complex probe – especially since the shady deals that are up for grilling happened years ago, giving the culprits plenty of time to hide their tracks.”
Will the new report be any good?
She noted that while Tom Hayhoe’s final report with recommendations for future procurement crises “sounds sensible”, it’s questionable whether it will add anything fresh to the official UK enquiry led by Baroness Heather Hallett or the ongoing NCA investigation into potential fraud in the PPE procurement.
Timing – a Labour manifesto promise gone awhile
- Labour pledged a “corruption chief” right out of the election… but only after five months.
- Media was flooded with “next week” or “next month” promises before Tom stepped into the role.
Fiona emphasizes that while the idea to comb the government’s fraud is important, the cost of this appointment could outweigh the money it recovers – and it probably won’t unearth anything new.
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