Michael Gove Told Officials to Buy 10,000 Ventilators From Dyson During Pandemic in ‘Affront’ to Procurement Rules

Leading Brexiteer James Dyson was handed “preferential treatment” in the awarding of a Government contract to his company for 10,000 ventilators during the pandemic, in an “affront” to normal procurement rules, a report commissioned by the Covid Inquiry has found.

The Inquiry is currently looking at Government procurement of PPE, Covid tests and Ventilators during the pandemic. 

The first witness to be called before the inquiry, chaired by Baroness Heather Hallet, was independent procurement expert Professor Dr Albert Sanchez-Graells. The professor’s findings provided further clarity on the political pressure piled on civil servants during this period. 

The contents of Professor Sanchez-Graells’s expert report were published by the inquiry on Monday and for the first time reveal the true extent of Conservative Party grandee and former Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove’s role in ensuring Dyson were awarded a contract to provide 10,000 ventilators as part of the ‘Ventilator Challenge’.

The Ventilator Challenge was the UK Government’s flagship procurement programme launched in early 2020 in a bid to bolster medical supplies as the country entered its first national lockdown.

Of the £277 million spent on Ventilators by the Cabinet Office, more than half, £143 million, was written off. Furthermore, details of the contracts remained unpublished for over three years (in breach of transparency laws) and were only released to the public following a legal challenge by Good Law Project in early 2023. 

Professor Sanchez-Graell’s report highlighted one contract included in the Ventilator Challenge – the deal awarded to Dyson in March 2020. The report reveals, notably that:

• “Dyson benefitted from preferential treatment” because Michael Gove, the former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, issued  “an instruction” to place an order for 10,000 ventilators from Dyson in March 2020. According to the Government Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Gove was “insistent that an order be placed”.

• Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson had “given direct contact details of a civil servant involved in initial discussions to Sir James Dyson.” 

• Cabinet Minister Lord Agnew also intervened in April 2020 and said: “We are going to have to handle Dyson carefully. I accept that contractually, we can walk away as he hasn’t delivered by the due date. I also accept that we have an indemnity battle ahead. But just killing off his design (assuming it gets through MHRA) won’t be an option. I suspect we’ll have to buy a few machines, get them into hospitals so that he can then market internationally, being able to say they are being used in UK hospitals” before ending the message by stating “Remember he got a personal call from the PM. This can’t be ignored”.

Professor Sanchez-Graells suggested the Dyson deal could be an “affront” to proper procurement rules and flagged concerns over the legality of the Dyson deal, concluding:

 “Favouring Dyson due to the political pressure Ministers were under would have been clearly problematic and, in my view, beyond being objectionable, it would have raised serious questions as to its legality. It would also have raised questions on the origin of the political pressure”.

The Cabinet Office, in response to a report on procurement by the National Audit Office, claimed in a press release in November 2020, that  “they [NAO] found no evidence ministers were involved in procurement decisions”. This claim was repeated on numerous occasions by the former government. We now know this wasn’t true.

Ultimately, the initial contract awarded to Dyson was cancelled. A Dyson Spokesperson told the Guardian, “Sir James Dyson responded to a personal call from the prime minister of the United Kingdom, to develop and make a medical-grade ventilator in 30 days during the national emergency.

“Dyson had no intention of manufacturing ventilators for profit. Far from receiving any commercial benefit, there was significant commercial cost to Dyson, which diverted 450 engineers away from commercial projects.

“Mercifully, treatments changed, and mass use of ventilators was no longer seen as an effective remedy, the UK government cancelled the order it had placed, and none were ever sold overseas.

“Uniquely among the many businesses involved, James Dyson did not seek payment for any of the £20m the company spent on the project – rather this was its contribution to the national effort to save lives. In addition, Dyson did not claim any furlough money, subsidy, or government loans related to the Covid-19 pandemic anywhere in the world.”

Byline Times approached Sir James Dyson for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication. We will update the story if and when we receive one.