Euro court may probe £32m smallpox deal

Ben Leapman12 April 2012

Cash for favours allegations over the Govenment's £32 million order for smallpox vaccine could be investigated in the European Court of Justice, it emerged today.

Lib-Dem Euro MP Chris Huhne has called on the European Commission to investigate the decision by the Government to strike a deal with PowderJect Pharmaceuticals without putting the contract out to tender. PowderJect chief executive Paul Drayson donated £50,000 to the Labour Party last year. EU commissioner Frits Bolkestein, who has been asked to investigate, has power to take Britain to the European Court in The Hague. Health Minister John Hutton has insisted that PowderJect was the only company able to supply the right vaccine at the time.

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