Jolyon Maugham QC

Three MPs and the Good Law Project are seeking judicial review of the government’s failure to disclose the information, arguing it is breaching the law and its own guidance.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, Labour’s Debbie Abrahams and Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said that while details of £11bn worth of contracts were revealed last month, new analysis by Tussell shows more than £3bn worth of contracts have not been made public by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project, said: “What we know about the government’s procurement practices during this pandemic gives real cause for concern.

“Huge sums of public money have been awarded to companies with no discernible expertise. Sometimes the main qualification seems to be a political connection with key government figures.

“And I have seen evidence that government is sometimes paying more to buy the same product from those with political connections. We don’t know what else there is to discover because the government is deliberately keeping the public in the dark.

“We are left with no option but to push for transparency through the courts.”

Ms Lucas added: “When billions of pounds of public money is handed out to private companies, some of them with political connections but no experience in delivering medical supplies, ministers should be explaining why those companies were awarded the contracts.

“It’s completely unacceptable that, as an MP, I’m prevented from being able to scrutinise those decisions.”

Ms Abrahams said: “The persistent failure to publish the details of Covid contracts leads you to wonder what this government has got to hide.”