Baroness Mone hits back at PM – as Starmer urges govt to ‘come clean’ over role in PPE scandal
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.
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.”
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A spokesman for Baroness Mone told Sky News that there are over 1,000 individual pieces of correspondence between her, the Cabinet Office, DHSC and Michael Gove in relation to the procurement of PPE.
A spokesman 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 DSHC that their product was not to specification, and intend to clear their name.”
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.
In an interview with the BBC on Sunday, she 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’.”
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”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for a statement from the government during a visit to a hospital in Leeds
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.”
However, despite the government confirming three separate ministerial statements in the Commons this afternoon, none will focus 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”.
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Rishi Sunak says the government takes the case ‘extremely seriously’
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.
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Sir Keir Starmer continues to face the threat of a major rebellion during a key vote on welfare reforms later – despite making last-minute concessions to disgruntled Labour MPs.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has confirmed that all existing claimants of the personal independence payment (PIP), the main disability benefit, will be protected from changes to eligibility.
The combined value of the standard Universal Credit allowance and the health top-up will rise “at least in line with inflation” every year of this parliament.
And an additional £300m for employment support for sick and disabled people in 2026 has been announced, which will rise every year after.
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Welfare cuts ‘needed to be made’
Ms Kendall has also promised that a consultation into PIP – “co-produced” with disabled people – will be published next autumn.
She said the U-turn on welfare cuts will cost taxpayers about £2.5bn by 2030 – less than half the £4.8bn the government had expected to save with its initial proposals.
Modelling by Ms Kendall’s own department, released yesterday, suggested the proposals would push 150,000 more people into poverty by 2030, down from the 250,000 estimated under the original plan.
But after announcing the U-turns, Labour MPs were still publicly saying they could not back the plans as they do not go far enough to allay their concerns.
Disabilities minister Stephen Timms would not say he was “confident” the proposals would pass the Commons when asked on Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.
“We’ve got a very strong package, I certainly hope it passes,” he replied.
Read more: What are the concessions to the welfare reform bill?
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‘Disabled people thrown under the bus’
A total of 86 charities united yesterday to call on MPs to reject the reforms, saying they will harm disabled people and calling it “a political choice”.
The likes of Oxfam, Child Action Poverty Group, Mind and Shelter said the bill has been brought to a vote without consulting disabled people and without any assessment “of its impact on health and employment outcomes”.
When asked to name “a single” disability organisation in favour of the reforms, Ms Kendall declined to do so.
Several Labour MPs indicated they would still vote against the changes, leaving the government in the dark over how big a rebellion it still may face.
Ms Kendall tried to allay their fears, telling MPs: “I believe we have a fair package, a package that protects existing claimants because they’ve come to rely on that support.”
Richard Burgon presented a petition to parliament yesterday evening against the cuts, signed by more than 77,000 people.
Several Labour MPs questioned why the vote was going ahead before the review into PIP is published – including Rachael Maskell, who said she could not “countenance sick and disabled people being denied support” and added: “It is a matter of conscience.”
Connor Naismith said the concessions “undoubtedly improve efforts to secure welfare reform which is fair”, but added: “Unfortunately, I do not believe these concessions yet go far enough.”
Labour rebel Nadia Whittome said the government was ‘ignoring’ disabled people
Nadia Whittome accused the government of “ignoring” disabled people and urged ministers to go “back to the drawing board”.
Ian Byrne told the Commons he will vote against the “cruel cuts” to disability benefits because the “so-called concessions go nowhere near far enough”.
The vote will take place this evening, with coverage on Sky News’ Politics Hub live blog and on TV.
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