Ministers may have ‘acted in bad faith’ when they cancelled a deal for 100 million Covid-19 vaccines made by French firm Valneva, the former head of the vaccine taskforce said last night.
Kate Bingham criticized the company’s decision to end the contract before the jab was tested.
Dame Kate, who stood down from the taskforce at the end of last year, said: ‘The Government alleged a breach of contract, apparently as a means to avoid paying for the costs incurred up to that point.
Kate Bingham criticized the company’s decision to end the contract with it before the jab was tested.
Some might consider this behaviour as acting in bad faith.’
She said in a speech that she regretted the decision because the vaccine had been proven highly effective.
Separately, she also took aim at the Whitehall ‘Blob’.
The lack of scientific knowledge in Government and a ‘culture of group-think and risk aversion’ in the civil service was holding Britain back, she wrote in The Times.
In her speech, Dame Kate also attacked the ‘devastating’ lack of skills and experience in science and business in Government and a culture of ‘group-think and risk aversion’ in the civil service.
Her comments were the latest in a series of public criticisms of the Whitehall ‘Blob’, which is increasingly believed to be frustrating Ministers’ ambitions and holding back the country.
In her speech, Dame Kate also attacked the ‘devastating’ lack of skills and experience in science and business in Government and a culture of ‘group-think and risk aversion’ in the civil service
She added: ‘It is interesting to reflect that the behaviour of the Government appears to change significantly from my time in the VTF.
‘Officials have reverted to their usual practice and the pre-existing culture of distrust of business. It is hard not to see that a massive opportunity to win has been lost, indeed, converted into something of an own goal.’
Dame Kate went on in her speech: ‘The machinery of government is dominated by process, rather than outcome, causing delay and inertia.
Priti Patel, the Home Secretary was reported to be declaring her department unfit for purpose at the weekend
‘There is an obsessive fear of personal error and criticism, a culture of group-think and risk aversion that stifles initiative and encourages foot-dragging.
‘Government must be braver. It needs to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset in which people are rewarded for flair and results.’
There have been a string of criticisms of the public sector ‘Blob’ in recent days.
According to reports, Priti Patel (Home Secretary) declared that her department was not suitable for use over the weekend.
The radical plans to create a post-Brexit low-tax and low-regulation economy were further hampered by civil servants.