Sky News has seen an email from Dr Fox to then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock, dated June 22, 2020, saying Derbyshire-based company SureScreen Diagnostics “exported a huge number of antibody tests” to Germany, Spain and Sweden and had “performed exceptionally well in tests conducted internationally.” Dr Fox included an email from the company’s director, David Campbell, which appealed to him to “proceed with UK government approval”, before the MP added: “It would be possible to send this to PHE [Public Health England] and ask them to be in touch with the company. “As we move into the next phase, I don’t think the British people would understand or approve the extensive export of this capability when we have a huge need at home.” Seven months later, SureScreen was awarded a £500m contract by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to provide a different test, which would show whether there was a current infection – although it is unclear whether this was a result of his email Dr. Fox. And according to its accounts, SureScreen’s parent company posted pre-tax profits of £67.2m for the year ending May 2021. In July 2022, Dr Fox told the Register of Members’ Interests that he had received a £20,000 donation a month earlier from the same company. The email was obtained by the Good Law Project – which has taken multiple legal actions, with varying degrees of success, against the government over its use of emergency powers to make deals with companies without opening them up to competition – after a Freedom of Information request reports the BBC. The campaign group’s executive director, Jolyon Maugham, told Sky News the donation raised questions. “How many times does it take companies to hand money to Tory MPs after getting help to win huge public contracts before they realize we have a contract cash problem,” he said. “We know very well what we would call such behavior if we saw it happening in another country.” But a spokesman for Dr Fox told Sky News: “This is a baseless smear concocted by political activist Jolyon Maugham and the Good Law Project. It is appalling that it is being propagated by the BBC.” They added that the Tory MP would make a formal complaint to the BBC and was “taking legal advice on the matter”. “This reveals people working together” In a statement to the BBC, SureScreen said the donation was made to Dr Fox’s office, and not to the MP personally, and was made by one of the company’s directors. “This donation was specifically to support a series of events that include educational talks by special guests,” the company added. “The payment is in no way connected to lobbying.” A spokesman for Mr Hancock also strongly denied any wrongdoing and said he was not responsible for signing contracts when he was health minister. “All DHSC contracts are decided, priced and signed off by the public service, which is independent of Mr Hancock,” he added. “If Mr Hancock had received an email about the extension of testing, he would of course have acted on it regardless of the source. Not to do so would be completely irresponsible. “Remember, what was happening at the time was a national effort to expand testing, and all of this reveals that people are working together to save lives.” A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “All test suppliers – including SureScreen Diagnostics – were assessed before the contracts were awarded, against strict procurement regulations and transparency guidelines. “The tests provided by the UK government also underwent a rigorous scientific evaluation process before distribution, to make sure they were highly effective at detecting COVID-19.”
