Boris Johnson news: PM ‘misled parliament’ over Covid contracts as strike fund launched over 1% NHS pay rise

(PA)

Boris Johnson misled parliament over the publication of coronavirus contracts, a court order has suggested.

The prime minister had claimed that the contracts, which are subject to a legal challenge and cronyism allegations, were in the public domain.

However, a High Court order on Friday shows that the government had only published “608 out of 708 relevant contracts”.

Gemma Abbott, the legal director of the Good Law Project, said: “Unless contract details are published, they cannot be properly scrutinised — there’s no way of knowing where taxpayers’ money is going and why.”

Elsewhere, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has set up a £35m fund to support frontline nurses if they strike over the government’s “pitiful and bitterly disappointing” one per cent pay hike for health workers.

Keir Starmer branded the government’s proposal “insulting”, while shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said it was “cowardly” for Rishi Sunak not to announce the decision in his Budget on Wednesday.

Speaking on Friday, health minister Nadine Dorries defended the government’s proposal by saying that “the one per cent offer is the most we think we can afford”.

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