Southampton FC great Matt Le Tissier has taken to twitter again. This time to question the governments open chequebook policy and lack of accountability during the covid pandemic. Many users on twitter questioned if Le Tissier was right. The question Le Tissier asked was:
“Can anyone begin to explain how the government spent 37 billion pounds on a useless track and trace app and no one is held accountable for such extreme waste of our taxes shouldn’t we have the right to see where that money went”
Le Tissier has become a controversial figure due to his public statements and social media activity. Le Tissier has been vocal in expressing skepticism about the COVID-19 pandemic’s severity and the measures taken to control it, such as lockdowns and vaccinations. He has shared views and content that question the mainstream scientific consensus, which has drawn criticism from the public and media. Le Tissier has also been associated with what mainstream media describe as ‘conspiracy theories’ not just about COVID-19, but also other global events. This includes questioning official narratives and suggesting alternative explanations that many consider unfounded or speculative. Due to these views, Le Tissier has faced significant backlash from the media, fans, and former colleagues. This has sometimes resulted in organisation such as Southampton Football Club and Sky Sports distancing themselves from him and losing his role as a soccer pundit on Sky Sports.
One of the first comments on Le Tissier latest Twitter post is from user @votemikeadams who in his twitter profile is a Conservative councillor from Nottingham. He disputes Le Tissier’s statement and cites the full fact website to debunk Le Tessier’s 37 million figure. So who‘s right?
According to the Governments own website the NHS track and trace system was allocated a budget of 37 billion pounds:
“In May last year NHS Test and Trace (NHST&T) was set up with a budget of £22 billion. Since then it has been allocated £15 billion more: totalling £37 billion over two years.”
The full fact website cited by Conservative Councillor Mike Adams also actually seems to confirm this:
“The actual cost of the app was about £35 million in its first year. That £37 billion figure refers to the budget for the whole test and trace programme in its first two years.
The £37 billion figure refers to the total budget allocated to NHS Test and Trace in its first two years.
However, not all of that money was used. According to the NAO, as of June 2022 approximately £25.7 billion had actually been spent on the entire Test and Trace programme, with an estimated lifetime cost of £29.3 billion.”
So it seems like Matt Le Tissier’s statement that the government spent 37 billion on NHS Track and Trace is indeed correct.
