BORIS JOHNSON’s government has been “spraying” huge sums of public cash at companies that have mostly failed to deliver on contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic, Labour said today.

During Prime Minister’s Questions Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that the Tory government has spent at least £130 million on PR companies’ services this year.

He cited Cabinet Office data showing the money going to 23 communications companies between January and September, adding that the total does not include the cost of special advisers and civil servants working on press matters.

Labour said that “many” agencies have “established links to senior Tories.”

The party’s analysis of government spending on PR so far this year revealed that more than £113m was splashed out as part of a four-year, £600m deal with Manning Gottlieb OMD that was signed in 2018 to help counter “disinformation and fake news.”

In the Commons, Sir Keir said that £500m has gone to Tory donor company Randox for about 750,000 unsafe Covid testing kits and Ayanda Capital received £150m in a face-mask deal that resulted in the delivery of no “usable” masks for front-line NHS workers.

Ayanda Capital, run by bankers with no experience of delivering public contracts, specialises in currency trading, offshore property, private equity and trade finance.

Some consultants who have helped the government set up its failing coronavirus test-and-trace system have been paid about £7,000 a day, Sir Keir added.

He also pressed the Prime Minister over transparency measures in place for contracts awarded during the pandemic and accused the government of having a “lax” attitude to spending.

Mr Johnson defended the spending, including a reported £670,000 contract for PR consultants for the Covid-19 vaccine taskforce.

He said: “The expenditure was to help raise awareness of vaccines, to fight the anti-vaxxers and to persuade the people of this country — 300,000 — to take part in trials, without which we can’t have vaccines. So I think he should take it back.”

Sir Keir pressed further on the issue, telling MPs: “This is not the Prime Minister’s money, it is taxpayers’ money.

“He may well not know the value of the pound in his pocket, but the people who send us here do and they expect us to spend it wisely.”

In questions related to Armistice Day, Sir Keir compared the huge sums spent by ministers to an “insufficient” £6m package for armed forces charities. He urged Mr Johnson to “reconsider” the amount.