TAXPAYER CASH IS UP IN FLAMES

Outfit that earned £11m to deliver Covid supplies is cashing in for second time. Horse-breeder founder worshipped Thatcher and 'paid Robbie £lm to sing

- JOHN SIDDLE and CHRIS WHITE

MILLIONS of pounds is literally going up in flames after a Tory donor's firm was hired to burn unusable PPE - after earning a fortune to deliver it.

Clipper Logistics is being paid £4.5million to dispose of Covid kit bought at inflated prices by the Tories but found to be useless. Gowns, goggles and surgical gloves will be incinerated.

Two years ago Clipper - one of the UK's leading storage and delivery groups - received £11million of taxpayer cash to deliver PPE.

The arrangements have reignited claims of contract cronyism after it emerged Clipper's founder Steve Parkin, 62, has handed £730,000 to the Conservatives since 2017.

Labour has hit out at "grubby deals" which have cost taxpayers a fortune.

Ferrari-loving tycoon Mr Parkin - a former coal miner who reportedly paid Robbie Williams £1million to perform at a private party - is one of the Tories' biggest donors.

He is a horse breeder, has a private jet and a helicopter, and is in the "Leader's Group" of VIPS who wine and dine top Tories. Mr Parkin once called controversial ex-PM Margaret Thatcher "one of my heroes... a genius".

While there is no allegation of wrongdoing against Clipper or Mr Parkin, critics say the arrangement is further evidence of Covid

More than £3.5billion-worth Covid contracts were awarded to Tory donors and ministers' mates, Labour claims.