Tories handed nearly £300 million of PPE contracts to businesses associated with a religious cult, the PBCC

15/08/2020



John Penrose MP

House of Commons

London SW1A 0AA




Dear John


On this page of Byline Times https://tinyurl.com/y6xy7cou is an account of how 11 companies have been awarded contracts for PPE totalling nearly £300 million. Here is a list of the companies: Unispace Global Ltd., Tower Supplies, Techniclean, Blueleaf Ltd., Denka UK Ltd., Accora, ToffeIn Ltd., Orcagel, Oska Care Ltd., Clandeboye Agencies Ltd., and Medco.



The striking thing about these companies is that all of them are more or less closely linked with a small religious group commonly known as Exclusive Brethren, now calling themselves the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC). This is a small fissiparous sect numbering some 22,000 members in the UK.



The PBCC can fairly be characterised as a cult. They believe themselves to be the only true body of Christians on earth, and separate themselves strictly from association with the “world” which they believe to be dominated by the Devil. Members are strictly controlled in their thinking and behaviour, and any behaviour that deviates from their rules is punished by total isolation for a period. If this does not bring about repentance the member will be anathematised. This in effect means losing all their familial, social, and often economic connections, which as you can imagine can lead to catastrophic consequences, including suicide.



Their separation from the world means that voting is forbidden, but they do allow themselves to support and lobby conservative political parties in Australia, the USA and here in the UK. They are expert lobbyists, and have put extraordinary pressure on the Charities Commission with the result that they have been granted charitable status worth some £11 million a year to them.



The fact that companies linked with this cult have been awarded, without a competitive tendering process, such a large number of contracts, demands investigation. How long had each company been in existence before the contract was signed with Government? What was the net value of each company before the contract? What expertise did each company have? Who decided to award the contracts? What was the process? Have they delivered on the contract? Why were so many contracts awarded to so many companies connected to this cult?



I understand that normal tendering processes have been suspended because of the pandemic, but it does look as if due diligence and impartiality has not been adhered to in this matter.



I would be very grateful if you would give some careful thought to this unusual set of circumstances and let me know what action you will be taking to investigate and rectify them.



With kind regards

Richard