Covid contracts: messages reveal extent of Tory donor access to Matt Hancock

Two major donors used ministerial access to promote firms with which they were involved offering Covid services

Newly released WhatsApp messages and emails between Tory donors and the former health secretary Matt Hancock reveal the extent of ministerial access they enjoyed when government Covid contracts were being awarded.

Two major donors to the Conservatives, Mustafa Mohammed and Mohamed Amersi, had direct access to Hancock, and used it to promote companies offering Covid services with which they were involved. Amersi also had a phone meeting with James Bethell, a health minister at the time, in which he put forward projects with which he was connected.