On any given day in Britain, more than £1bn is spent on public contracts. Nearly £400bn a year comes across the desks of procurement officers in central government and local government, up by a third in the last five years alone. Local government contracts make up a healthy chunk of those billions.
The state is, in effect, Britain's biggest customer. The shopping list is varied and complex. Submarines, hospital beds, school dinners and management consultants are all bought with public money. Each of those suppliers has a moral obligation to give back.
