HE'S THE BOSS IN A pounds 1M..

THE company boss at the centre of a "cash for contracts" row has given his workers a pounds 1million thank-you.

Paul Drayson paid the bonus to the 600 staff at his Liverpool drug firm after they worked all hours to deliver a multi-million pound order for flu vaccine to the United States.

Most took home around pounds 1,500 with managers getting three times as much.

One worker said last night: "We all worked bags of overtime to get the job done. The company made a lot of money and now so have we, so everyone's happy."

The firm, PowderJect, won a pounds 32million Government contract to supply smallpox vaccine in the wake of the September 11 tragedy amid fears of a bio-terror attack on Britain.

Mr Drayson, who had previously made two pounds 50,000 donations to Labour, insists the firm won the contract fairly against competition with four other companies.

Health Minister Lord Hunt told Parliament last week that the order did not go out to tender in the normal way because it was awarded in the interests of national security.

The Tory party is now demanding to know the full details of the deal.

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