Business secretary urged to refer Vodafone to Covid corruption commissioner

Legal claim alleged telecoms group benefited from government support intended for small businesses

The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has been asked to refer Vodafone to the Covid corruption commissioner, after a legal claim alleged the 18bn telecoms group benefited from government pandemic support intended for small businesses.

The request to examine the conduct of the FTSE 100 company follows last month's high court claim by current and former Vodafone franchisees, which alleged the company unjustly enriched" itself at the expense of scores of vulnerable small business owners who were running the group's high street stores.