Kate Bingham: you probably don’t know her but she’s a venture capitalist who was appointed to lead Boris Johnson’s vaccines taskforce – something about which she knew nothing – because her husband is a minister in Boris Johnson’s government. She then spent £670,000 on public relations, using a firm linked to Dominic Cummings’s father-in-law. And there’s a claim that she showed private government documents to US financiers at a $200-a-head conference.
This tweet has aged badly – and at the time of writing it’s not 24 hours since it was written:
Huge thanks to Kate Bingham and the Vaccine Taskforce for all their fantastic work in securing 40 million doses of the @pfizer & @BioNTech_Group vaccine and over 300 million doses of other promising vaccine candidates.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 10, 2020
He was referring to Kate Bingham. If you haven’t heard of her, it’s not surprising. She’s another unqualified crony of Boris Johnson and his Tories, given a role as head of Johnson’s “vaccines taskforce” because she knows him (she is married to a Tory minister, Jesse Norman).
She knew nothing about vaccines when she was appointed; she’s a venture capitalist. And now she has announced she is retiring at the end of the year.
Her announcement came after some embarrassing revelations became public:
So, Kate Bingham, the unqualified ‘vaccine tsar’, venture capitalist, married to a Tory minister, blows £670,000 on PR consultants and failed to publicly declare that she manages private investments in 2 firms involved in the race to develop coronavirus drugs.
Blatantly corrupt.
— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) November 8, 2020
Worse was to come:
Not a moment too soon.
Vaccines tsar 'to step down' from her post after 'dodgy cronyism' claims https://t.co/2PSq6LcX2W
— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) November 9, 2020
The Mirror story claims that in addition to spaffing £670,000 on a public relations firm, Bingham showed US financiers private government documents at a $200-a-head conference.
Oh, and that £670K PR firm? Linked to Dominic Cummings’s father-in-law, apparently:
More info here on story by @PickardJE https://t.co/trJyNMuGbZ
— Parody Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson_MP) November 10, 2020
The stink of corrupt cronyism is ripe here.
But Death Secretary Matt Hancock insisted to the Mirror that Bingham’s retirement is nothing to do with the revelations. It was always a six-month job, set to end at the year, he said.
So why announce it? And why make the announcement right after these embarrassing revelations?
Could it be that Johnson, Hancock, the Tory government and its remaining cronies were hoping to avoid further examination of their decisions in appointing unqualified friends to vital Covid-19 related jobs, rather than people who knew what they were doing?
If so, it seems they were set to be disappointed…
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There is no incentive for the Tory Government to stop Corona Virus- Their friends and relations are making a killing out of it. Why only 20 million doses of vaccine ( announced as 40 million, but as every one has to have 2 doses that halves the doses) Who will get the vaccine?
Bunch of corporate crooks from dumb fascist johnson down to his male cronies all spending our public money and giving it away to their corporate criminal cronies! Well done dumb fascist johnson and your boys you’ve spent our money and are blatantly laughing at us peasants!