At the beginning of the month, the Prime Minister appeared in front of senior MPs at the Liaison Committee and I pressed him on his meetings with the former KGB spymaster, Alexander Lebedev (see here). This week the Prime Minister wrote a formal letter to the committee in which he stated that ‘as far as he can recall’ no government business was discussed at the social event he attended in Italy with Alexander Lebedev. Clearly this only begs more questions than it answers. I’ll continue to pursue this. See here to read the Prime Minister’s letter in full.

The Public Accounts Committee published two reports. The first was on cross-border travel during the pandemic where despite promising a self-funding hotel quarantine system, the taxpayer ended up spending £329 million. See here to read the report and here for a summary. And the second report looked at the letting of contracts for COVID-19 testing, including £770 million to a company called Randox. See here for that report and here for a summary.

And I continued meeting with housing association Chief Executives to raise concerns about how the Government’s promises on cladding are not being delivered. I also raised general issues about repairs and maintenance.

I’ll be taking a break from vlogging over August but my office remains open. Please do get in touch if ever you need my help.