Michelle Mone: Sunak heads to Scotland as questions mount over PPE row

The Prime Minister will be in Moray this morning to “have a cup of tea” with military personnel working over Christmas. 

However, the visit looks set to be overshadowed by an astonishing interview given by Baroness Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.

READ MORE: Michelle Mone admits she will benefit from PPE money

The firm won a £122m contract for 25m surgical gowns and an £80.8m contract for 210m facemasks during the Covid pandemic after she recommended it through the so-called High Priority, or “VIP Lane”,  a few days after it was set up in May 2020. 

They made a 30% profit from the contract, bringing in around £60m for Mr Barrowman - who is a resident of the Isle of Man, a tax haven.

The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) claims the gowns were not fit for purpose as they were single-wrapped, not double-wrapped to ensure they were sterile.

PPE Medpro, which denies the gowns were unusable, is now being sued by the UK Government for £122m plus costs for "breach of contract and unjust enrichment".

The National Crime Agency is investigating alleged criminal offences in the procurement of the contracts.

During the interview, Baroness Mone - elevated to the Lords by David Cameron in 2015 to become his 'start-up czar' - admitted she stands to gain from the £60m in profit made by the company.

However, the Glaswegian businesswoman denied buying a yacht with the proceeds.

The money was put into a number of offshore trusts, including £28.8m transferred to one registered on the Isle of Man of which the peer and her children are beneficiaries.

The funds landed in Mr Barrowman’s account just before their wedding and honeymoon.  The Sun reported in August 2021 that the tycoon’s children had spent more than £3m on property in Glasgow during the pandemic.

Lady Mone told the BBC: "It's my husband's money, it's his money, it's not my money and it's not my children's money.

"I am being straightforward now, I am saying to you that I did not receive that cash, that cash is not my cash.

"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."

READ MORE: Michelle Mone 'ashamed' to be Tory peer and admits 'error'

Questions have been raised about a £10m luxury yacht called the Lady M, which has been dubbed the 'Pandemic Profiteer' by activists.

Mr Barrowman denied that money from PPE Medpro had been used to purchase the boat.

Baroness Mone said: "It's not my yacht, it's not my money. I don't have that money and my kids don't have that money."

The peer was also asked why she had failed to declare her interest in PPE Medpro to the House of Lords.

She claimed she had been told by the Cabinet Office that she was not required to do so, and only had to declare her interest to them, which she did.

Baroness Mone said: "I discussed it with the Cabinet Office, and you do not declare your interests in the House of Lords if you are not a director, you're not a shareholder, you're not financially benefitting."

She insists she has no case to answer over the PPE and the contracts.

Baroness Mone said: "I don’t honestly see there’s a case to answer. I can’t see what we’ve done wrong.

“Doug and the consortium have simply delivered a contract, a delivery contract of goods.”

Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman threatened defamation law suits when their involvement with the company first came to light, denying any connection between the peer and PPE Medpro.

Both now admit this was a lie.

Baroness Mone said: "We've only done one thing, which was lie to the press to say we weren't involved.

"Saying to the press I'm not involved to protect my family... it's not a crime.

"I was protecting my family and I think people will realise that with the press attacks I've gone through since I walked through that House of Lords.

"I was a very successful individual businesswoman and since I've walked through the House of Lords it's been a nightmare for my family.

"So that's not a crime to say to the press... to tell the press what I did. That's not a crime."

The peer took a leave of absence from the House of Lords last year to "clear her name."

At the time, Mr Sunak said he was  “absolutely shocked” by the allegations. 

Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office spokeswoman Christine Jardine described Lady Mone’s interview with the BBC as “jaw-dropping”.

“The Prime Minister should kick Michelle Mone out of the Conservative Party and withdraw the whip if she has the gall to return to the Lords," she said.

READ MORE: Who is Michelle Mone? Controversial peer faces PPE grilling

The SNP’s Kirsty Blackman said the UK Government needed to publish all paperwork relating to the purchase of PPE during the Covid pandemic.

She said the interview exposed "the chaos that engulfed the UK government at a time of national and international crisis.”

The Aberdeen North MP continued: “When the priority should have been protecting the public and those who kept our public services running, the Tories were instead enriching their wealthy pals.

“The UK government must make public documentation related to the botched procurement of PPE during the pandemic, and acknowledge that their dodgy deals failed to deliver the necessary equipment at a huge cost to the taxpayer as well as the safety of public sector workers.”

Labour’s Wes Streeting said he did not think anyone watching the interview with Lady Mone would be “shedding any tears”.

“There’s a fundamental point of principle here, which is, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, when so many people rushed to help others in all sorts of ways… and then there were others who saw the pandemic as an opportunity to make a quick buck at someone else’s expense.

“Our message to those people who sought to use the pandemic to get rich quick: we want our money back,” the shadow health secretary said.