How we’ve laid the foundations for billions to be clawed back from the PPE scandal

The PPE scandal is one of the most egregious examples of political sleaze and mismanagement of public money in recent memory. £10bn was wasted on unusable or unused PPE – and that’s a figure that’s come from the government’s own mouth.

So how on earth did the government go from being unable to provide basic PPE to frontline workers at the outbreak of Covid-19 to having vast stockpiles of substandard and useless protective gowns, masks, goggles and gloves we’re still paying millions to keep stored in containers, some of them owned by Tory donors?