Baroness Mone hits back at PM - as Starmer urges govt to 'come clean' over role in PPE scandal
The Tory-appointed peer insists the government "knew about my involvement from the very beginning", as she criticises Rishi Sunak on social media.
Monday 18 December 2023 18:24, UK
Baroness Michelle Mone has hit out at the prime minister after he insisted he took the scandal surrounding a PPE company she was linked to "incredibly seriously".
The Tory-appointed peer and her husband, Doug Barrowman, have been embroiled in a row over their associations with PPE MedPro after it was awarded multi-million-pound contracts by the government for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.
The pair continually denied any involvement with the firm, but leaked documents showed she had recommended PPE MedPro to Cabinet Office ministers - including the now Housing Secretary Michael Gove - which saw the company added to the so-called "VIP lane" and given two contracts totalling more than £200m.
Politics live: Govt takes scandal 'incredibly seriously' - PM
On Sunday, Baroness Mone admitted her involvement with the business, and that around £60m in profits from the contracts was being held in trusts by Mr Barrowman, which she could benefit from in the future.
But she claimed the government had made her and her husband "scapegoats" for wider failings of PPE procurement throughout the pandemic.
Rishi Sunak refused to comment on the situation due to live legal proceedings, as PPE MedPro is currently being sued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over claims millions of the gowns it supplied failed to meet the standard required - something Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman deny.
The company is also under investigation by the National Crime Agency.
'The government were all aware'
Mr Sunak insisted, however, that he and the government "take all these things incredibly seriously".
But in response, Baroness Mone called him out on X - formerly known as Twitter - posting: "What is Rishi Sunak talking about?
"I was honest with the Cabinet Office, the government and the NHS in my dealings with them. They all knew about my involvement from the very beginning."
A spokesman for Baroness Mone told Sky News that there are more than 1,000 individual pieces of correspondence between her, the Cabinet Office, DHSC and Michael Gove in relation to the procurement of PPE.
He said: "Whilst Baroness Mone has now admitted she made a mistake in her dealings with the media, the government were all aware of her involvement from the very beginning. Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman dispute the claims by DHSC that their product was not to specification, and intend to clear their name."
In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, Baroness Mone claimed she had contacted Mr Gove at the start of the pandemic following a "call to arms for all lords, baronesses, MPs, senior civil servants, to help, because they needed massive quantities of PPE".
Baroness Mone added: "I just said, 'we can help, and we want to help'. And he was like, 'oh my goodness, this is amazing'."
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Tap here for more'A disgrace from top to bottom'
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has demanded the government "comes clean" over the role ministers played in dealing with Baroness Mone during the COVID crisis.
Sir Keir called the scenario "a shocking disgrace from top to bottom", adding: "As every day goes past, there are more questions that need to be answered."
But he focused in on the alleged roles of Mr Gove and other ministers, saying they "may have started this unhappy story in the first place".
The Labour leader told reporters: "The government needs to come clean. It needs to make a statement [to the Commons] about that."
He added: "There are now serious questions that I think Michael Gove [and] the government now need to answer.
"Who made the original contact? What was the nature of that discussion that led to the situation that we now learn developed?
"I think they should make a statement in the House of Commons today about this so that the public can hear first-hand what actually happened here."
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Probe into 'huge waste'
However, despite the government confirming three separate ministerial statements in the Commons this afternoon, none focused on the scandal.
Baroness Mone has since accused Mr Gove and the Department of Health and Social Care of overseeing "huge waste" in PPE contracts, adding they have had "questions to answer for a very long time".
The lingerie entrepreneur was appointed as a peer by David Cameron in 2015, but she is currently taking a leave of absence.
The Lords' standards commissioner is carrying out an investigation into whether she breached the code of conduct by not declaring her interests in PPE MedPro.
Asked whether the peer should be expelled from the Lords, Sir Keir said: "I don't think she should be in the Lords. I think the government should be held to account for this."
His comments echoed those made by energy minister and Tory peer Lord Callanan to Sky News on Monday morning, where he said Baroness Mone should "see sense" and not return to the upper chamber.