THE Tory Health Secretary has been accused of breaking the ministerial code after it was revealed he holds shares in a company which provides artificial intelligence tech to the private health sector.
Sajid Javid is among 12 Conservative MPs to benefit from ties to private health businesses, the Mirror reports.
It comes amid warnings of the NHS being privatised south of the Border as Boris Johnson introduces new health legislation, which will be voted on by MPs with links to the private sector.
Javid has around £45,000 in share options in a California-based company, C3.ai, which delivers AI software to the health sector. Labour say it is a “clear conflict of interest and breach of the ministerial code”.
The Health Secretary is said to be in the process of selling the shares, with the Government maintaining no rules have been broken.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokeswoman said: “The Secretary of State has acted in line with the ministerial code and has properly declared these share options in the usual way.”
Several other Tory MPs also have financial links to private health firms.
North East Hampshire MP Ranil Jayawardena had his £19,000-a-year office space paid for by Serco. The firm was paid £50 million a month to run parts of the UK Government’s NHS Test and Trace system.
Former health minister Steve Brine (below) pockets £20,000 a year to work a maximum of eight hours a month as an adviser to Pharmaceutical company Sigma. It won a £100,000 contract, without tender, in April to distribute lateral flow tests to pharmacies.
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Brine and the UK Government insist no lobbying took place and that he was not involved in granting the contract.
Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Scully accepted a £1000 hospitality ticket on behalf of Doctor Care Anywhere – a private platform for GP appointments – for England’s cricket test match versus India at Lord’s.
And Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond is paid £25,000 a year for his work as a non-executive director at life sciences firm Optibiotix Health plc. He consulted the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments about the role.
None of the MPs commented on the report when contacted by the Mirror.
In the Commons today, members will vote on Boris Johnson’s Health and Care Bill. The Prime Minister is expected to face a backlash from backbench MPs over reforms to social care, while campaigners say the legislation paves the way for further privatisation.
Campaign group We Own It warned of moves to allow the bosses of private health companies to sit on local boards which make decisions on spending.
"This isn’t just a conflict of interest, it’s a blatant attempt to buy the government and encourage them to privatise our NHS piece by piece,” Cat Hobbs of We Own It said. “The Bill will make this problem worse."
A Conservative Party spokeswoman commented: “Labour and allies claim the NHS is under threat of being privatised. The claim is utter nonsense.”
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