Michelle Mone should be barred from the Lords
after PPE scandal, minister says
Labour has called on Michael Gove to answer questions
over his own role in the awarding of a £200m contract to PPE Medpro
Archie
Mitchell
1 hour ago
Michelle
Mone should be barred from the House of Lords after she admitted standing to
benefit from £60million in profit over a PPE contract signed at the height of
the Covid crisis, a Tory minister has said.
The Tory
peer said on Sunday she was “sorry” for denying her links to PPE Medpro, which
was awarded government contracts worth more than £200 million to supply
personal protective equipment after she recommended it to ministers.
But a
defiant Baroness Mone said: “I don’t honestly see there is a case to answer. I
can’t see what we have done wrong.”
On Monday,
energy efficiency minister Lord Callanan said she should not return to the
House of Lords, saying “she has to speak for herself” and he “would hope that
she would see sense”.
“I would
hope that she would not be coming back to the House of Lords,” Lord Callanan
added.
Baroness
Mone has been on a leave of absence from the Lords for more than a year as she
bids to “clear her name” over the scandal.
But the
disastrous interview, with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme,
saw her facing renewed criticism over the PPE scandal.
Lord
Callanan told Sky News: “I watched the interview yesterday – I think she should
have declared her involvement in that in the House of Lords register, and there
is guidance available for that.”
Baroness
Mone claimed her life had been “destroyed” by allegations about their PPE
profits, even though “we’ve only done one thing, which was lie to the press to
say we weren’t involved”.
Rishi Sunak
said he takes the scandal surrounding Baroness Mone “incredibly seriously” but
refused to comment further.
Asked about
her admission she had lied about her involvement in the firm PPE Medpro, the
prime minister told reporters during a trip to Scotland: “The Government takes
these things incredibly seriously, which is why we’re pursuing legal action
against the company concerned in these matters.
“That’s how
seriously I take it and the Government takes it.
“But it is
also subject to an ongoing criminal investigation. And because of that, there’s
not much further that I can add.”
And Labour
is also piling pressure on the government over the scandal, after Baroness Mone
named Michael Gove as the minister she spoke to in the interview.
Referring
to Mr Gove, then chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, she said: “I just said,
‘We can help, and we want to help.’ And he was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is
amazing’.”
Shadow
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has called on Mr Gove to answer
questions following her claim.
In a letter
to Mr Gove, he said: “This series of events has led to civil litigation and a
National Crime Agency investigation. Yet these ongoing matters should not
preclude you from addressing questions about your own involvement and the role
of the Government.
“Events so
far expose a shocking recklessness by the Conservative government with regard
to public money, and a sorry tale of incompetence in relation to the so-called
‘VIP Lane’ for procurement during the pandemic.”
Baroness
Mone, the Ultimo bra tycoon made a peer by Lord Cameron in 2015, has been at
the centre of controversy over so-called “VIP lane” contracts.
She has
repeatedly denied that she had profited from the deal, which she first
discussed with government ministers including Mr Gove.
Baroness
Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman on Sunday admitted that a 30 per cent
profit had been made on the contract, around £60 million.
But she
denied she had bought a yacht with the money and insisted the cash was her
husband’s money.
“It’s not
my yacht, It’s not my money,” she said. “That cash is my husband’s cash, it’s
just like my dad going home with his wage packet on a Friday night and giving
it to my mum. So she’s benefiting from that as well, but that cash is not my
cash and is not my children’s cash. If one day, God forbid, my husband passes
away before me then I am a beneficiary as well as his children and my
children.”
The
astonishing interview came days after Baroness Mone appeared to fight back
tears in a film about the case – funded by the company at the centre of the
scandal. Two leading experts who appeared in the film have since come forward
to say they would not have taken part had they been told its focus or funding.
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