Rachel Reeves has appointed Tom Hayhoe as her new Covid corruption commissioner, tasked with recouping £2.6 billion lost to ‘waste, fraud, and botched contracts’ during the pandemic. His last role as Chair of the Health Advisory Board in Jersey lasted a whole month before a swift exit earlier this year, following “acknowledged differences in working styles” with the Minister for Health and Social Services. Reeves will be hoping this time there won’t be too many clashes of style…
Before that, Hayhoe was brought in as Chairman of West London Mental Health NHS Trust in 2015 after a £4 million black hole led to the scrapping of several clinical projects and a fraud investigation. Hayhoe promised a new era of “openness and candour.” The Trust’s journey toward transparency was far from smooth…
Despite his bold promises, Hayhoe’s first year was marred by the Trust’s refusal to release a crucial fraud report. The Independent on Sunday sought the document for months to expose how millions in public funds were mishandled, but the Trust insisted on keeping it under wraps. Not exactly a promising start for Reeves’ pledge to “leave no stone unturned” in uncovering fraud with full transparency. Hay-hoe…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”