Lying to press over PPE contract was ‘not a crime’ says Michelle Mone
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Michelle Mone has hit out at Rishi Sunak after the prime minister said he was taking the scandal surrounding her involvement in lucrative PPE contracts “incredibly seriously”.
The baroness is facing calls to be barred from the House of Lords after she admitted standing to benefit from £60m in profit over a contract signed with PPE Medpro at the height of the Covid crisis after she recommended it to ministers.
The Tory peer and Ultimo bra tycoon has taken a leave of absence from the Lords for more than a year as she bids to “clear her name” over the scandal. But she is free to resume membership, piling pressure on the PM to ensure she does not return to the upper House.
After Mr Sunak said he was taking the scandal “incredibly seriously”, Ms Mone said: “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.”
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Michelle Mone facing calls to be barred from House of Lords
Michelle Mone is facing calls to be barred from the House of Lords over her involvement in lucrative PPE contracts.
The row erupted after she finally admitted publicly that she stood to to benefit from £60million in profit over a PPE contract signed at the height of the Covid crisis.
Baroness Mone, the Ultimo bra tycoon who was made a peer by then-PM Lord Cameron in 2015, said on Sunday that 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.
Sir Keir Starmer said she should be removed from the upper chamber and called on the government to make a statement on the situation in the Commons.
He added: “I think this is a shocking disgrace from top to bottom. And, as every day goes past, there are more questions that need to be answered. The government needs to come clean.”
He followed Tory peer and energy efficiency minister Lord Callanan saying Baroness Mone should be removed from the House of Lords or quit, adding: “I would hope that she would not be coming back”.
She has taken a leave of absence from the Lords for more than a year as she bids to “clear her name” over the scandal. And while she has lost the Tory whip over the scandal, Baroness Mone is free to resume her membership of the Lords.
Archie Mitchell, Political Correspondent18 December 2023 15:23
Michelle Mone admits she lied and lied again and stands to benefit from £60m PPE contract profit
Former Tory peer Baroness Mone has admitted she lied and lied again as she conceded she stands to benefit from £60million in profit over a PPE contract at the height of the Covid crisis.
She said she was “sorry” for publicly denying her links to the firm involved, which is being investigated by the National Crime Agency.
However, a defiant Baroness Mone added: “I don’t honestly see there is a case to answer. I can’t see what we have done wrong.”
She claimed she was not trying to “pull the wool” over anyone’s eyes and that she and her husband had been made scapegoats on the issue.
In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, she 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”.
You can read the full report here:
Kate Devlin, Politics and Whitehall Editor18 December 2023 15:20
Good afternoon, we’ll be using this liveblog to provide live updates after Downing Street said it was taking the scandal surrounding Tory peer Michelle Mone “incredibly seriously”.
Andy Gregory18 December 2023 15:19