New Order’s Bernard Sumner has made a rare public statement to condemn Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the government at large.The frontman took to his website to share a message, beginning his statement: “I don’t normally post much and don’t normally post about stuff like this – but I do care about it.” He went on to highlight two news stories: firstly, the announcement that the government looking to overhaul Personal Independence Payments for people with mental health issues, which Sumner branded as “a disgusting way to cut costs.”Sumner went on to suggest the move was “probably an attempt to recoup some of the money they wasted on ineffective personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid pandemic,” calling it “a scandalous waste of money.”“According to the government’s own figures the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) lost 75% of the £12 billion it spent on PPE in the first year of the pandemic to inflated prices and kit that did not meet the required standards – including fully £4 billion of PPE that will never be used by the NHS and needs to be disposed of, ie burnt,” he wrote. “A scandalous waste of money and, as usual, it’s the sick and vulnerable who suffer for it.
