Boris Johnson's anti-corruption tsar, John Penrose, has been criticised for using a keynote speech at an international conference to defend the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Conservative MP, who is the husband of Dido Harding, the NHS Test and Trace boss, made the comments amid mounting accusations of cronyism in the Conservative Party and in the wake of last month’s court ruling that the government acted unlawfully over transparency.
The government has also faced widespread criticism over Harding’s NHS Test and Trace programme, after a string of multi-million pound contracts were handed to companies without competition.
