High court to rule on legality of Covid contracts for PM's 'chums'

Campaigners claim Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock acted unlawfully

Claims that Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock acted unlawfully by appointing their chums" to three top jobs in the fight against Covid-19 - without opening the processes to competition - are to be the subject of an official legal challenge in the high court.

Campaigners won an initial victory in the case last Thursday, when Mr Justice Swift granted their applications for a judicial review. In court, they will argue that the prime minister and the health secretary broke the rules and acted in a discriminatory way, running a chumocracy" at the top of government.