BRA tycoon Baroness Mone is facing calls to be expelled from the House of Lords while Cabinet Minister Michael Gove is being urged to answer questions over his involvement in the scandal.
The Conservative peer admitted yesterday she stands to benefit from millions of pounds of profit from personal protective equipment (PPE) sold to the Government during the pandemic by a company led by her husband, Doug Barrowman.
AFPBaroness Michelle Mone has set up several businesses, including the lingerie company Ultimo along with her then husband Michael Mone[/caption]
In an interview with the BBC, the couple apologised for denying their role in the deal but insisted they have “no case to answer”.
The company, PPE Medpro, is currently being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA), while the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has since issued breach of contract proceedings over a 2020 deal on the supply of gowns.
Lady Mone, who was appointed to the Lords by David Cameron in 2015, is taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords but she is now facing calls to be booted out of the Upper Chamber.
After Minister Lord Callanan told Sky News he expects Lady Mone not to return to the House of Lords, Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant (Rhondda) hit out on social media: “Wrong. She should never have been put there in the first place. And now she should be expelled.”
Peers can be expelled or suspended from the House of Lords under specific conditions, such as conviction and imprisonment, breaking the House of Lords Code of Conduct, or non-attendance for a whole parliamentary session lasting at least six months, unless they have sought and been granted a leave of absence.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Minister Michael Gove also finds himself embroiled in the scandal, with Labour calling on him to answer questions after being name-checked by Lady Mone.
In her interview, the lingerie tycoon said she 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”.
In a letter addressed to the Levelling Up Secretary, Shadow Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds 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.”
Mr Thomas-Symonds said that Mr Gove should answer questions about the so-called “call to arms” and what further communications he had with Lady Mone.
“The very least Conservative ministers owe is maximum possible transparency and there should be an urgent statement to Parliament before the Christmas recess,” he said.
PPE Medpro was awarded government contracts which were worth more than £200 million to supply personal protective equipment after she recommended it to ministers.
The Tory peer admitted she is a beneficiary of her husband’s financial trusts, which hold around £60 million of profit from the deal, but said the couple have been made “scapegoats” for the Government’s wider failings over PPE.
The admission came after Lady Mone had repeatedly denied that she profited from the deal.
She told the BBC: “If one day, if, God forbid, my husband passes away before me, then I am a beneficiary, as well as his children and my children, so, yes, of course”.
Lady Mone said she did not mean to fool anyone, despite admitting the couple misled the press about their involvement.
“I did make an error in saying to the press that I wasn’t involved,” she said.
The Mega AgencyLevelling Up Secretary Michael Gove is facing calls to appear before MPs to answer questions over PPE firm Medpro[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
