Covid and accusations of cronyism

<p>Transparency rules have been cast aside by ministers in their coronavirus panic. The result? Privileged access for friendly lobbyists and £1.5bn of contracts to Conservative-linked companies. We speak to the Sunday Times journalist who exposed much of it, and a lawyer bringing a case against the government.</p><p><br></p><p><em>This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today and get one month free at: </em><a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/subscribe/?utm_source=podcast&amp;utm_medium=audio&amp;utm_campaign=podcastsubs&amp;utm_content=storiesofourtimes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>thetimes.co.uk/storiesofourtimes</em></a><em>.</em></p><p><br></p><p>Guests:</p><p>Gabriel Pogrund, Sunday Times Whitehall correspondent.</p><p>Jo Maugham QC, Director of the Good Law Project.</p><p><br></p><p>Host:&nbsp;Manveen Rana.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Clips used: BBC News, Sky News, Channel 4 News.</p> &#10;&nbsp;<br /><hr><p style='color: grey; font - size: 0.75em; '>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>