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The Government has released correspondence revealing how the former Environment Secretary lobbied ministers
The Government has today been forced to release a tranche of documents revealing for the first time how Owen Paterson lobbied Matt Hancock in relation to contracts awarded to Randox for the supply of COVID-19 tests.
These documents were requested by opposition MPs, after public scrutiny grew over the role of Owen Paterson MP as a paid consultant for the firm.
Paterson stood down as an MP last year after facing suspension from the House of Commons for breaking rules on lobbying.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson had attempted to rip up the standards system in a bid to overturn Paterson’s suspension, triggering a wave of public anger and an eventual U-turn.
The messages reveal that Paterson corresponded directly with then Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock in January 2020 about the services that Randox could potentially offer in developing COVID-19 tests.
Peter Fitzgerald, referred to below, is the founder and owner of Randox.
After being contacted by Paterson at 9:23pm on 26 January, it appears that Hancock then contacted Fitzgerald just minutes later by email at 9:33pm.
The documents show Paterson again contacting Hancock on 25 February, complaining that “it is now 19 days since [Public Health England] contacted Randox at your request” – calling the attitude of PHE “incomprehensible”.
Hancock then appears to forward Paterson’s concerns to officials, noting that he was “very worried” about the matter and adding that: “If we are treating other companies like this we are failing”.
