Tory peer to leave Lords after investigation finds he breached standards over Covid PPE deals

"The Lords standards commissioner, Martin Jelley, found that Gummer, whose peerage title is Lord Chadlington, committed three breaches of the code governing peers' conduct by: introducing a company in which he had a financial interest to the government in April 2020 as a potential supplier of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the NHS; having contact with the then health secretary, Matt Hancock; and giving further advice to the company."

"The breaches were specifically of the rule that peers must not seek to profit from membership of the house by accepting or agreeing to accept payment or other incentive or reward in return for providing parliamentary advice or services."

"In April 2020, Chadlington introduced a company in which he had a financial interest to the government as a potential supplier of PPE. The company, SG Recruitment, a small, loss-making agency, was awarded 50m in PPE contracts within weeks, processed by the then Conservative government's VIP lane for politically connected people."

Lord Chadlington (Peter Gummer) has announced his retirement from the House of Lords and resignation from the Conservative Party following findings of misconduct. The Lords standards commissioner determined he committed three breaches by introducing a company with his financial interest as a PPE supplier to the government in April 2020, contacting Health Secretary Matt Hancock, and providing further advice to the company. These actions violated rules preventing peers from profiting through parliamentary services. Two additional breaches involved failing to cooperate with previous investigations. A 12-month suspension was upheld on appeal. The company, SG Recruitment, received £50 million in contracts through the government's VIP lane but later went into liquidation owing £1.1 million in taxes, with the Department of Health rejecting the supplied PPE as unusable.

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