THE SNP have urged the "corrupt" Tory party to cough up £170,000 of donations made to them by Michelle Mone’s husband.
At least £171,480 was donated before Baroness Mone, 51, and her husband Doug Barrowman, allegedly benefited from a multimillion-pound Covid PPE deal.
The couple have been accused of lobbying Westminster during the pandemic resulting in a firm linked to them – PPE Medpro - receiving more than £200 million of taxpayer-funded Covid contracts via the UK Government's "VIP lane".
The donation was made through UK-registered business Lancaster Knox LLP, part of Barrowman’s Isle of Man-based Knox Group.
Brendan O’Hara, the SNP Cabinet Office spokesperson, has now called on the party to return the “highly questionable” donations “immediately”.
READ MORE: Perth hotel fire: Politicians express condolences after three die
He said: "It may be a new year but it is the same old cronyism, sleaze and corruption from the Tory party.
"The more details that emerge about the Tory government's dodgy approach in handling multi-billion-pound Covid contracts, the more corrupt it appears.
"And we know the Tory party has a dodgy track record when it comes to donations coming into their party - to the extent where they have previously refused to rule out receiving money linked to criminal activity.
"While we wait for the answers the people deserve, the Tories must immediately confirm they are going to return the £170,000 the party received in donations from Baroness Michelle Mone’s husband.
READ MORE: Chris Kamara uses bizarre Scottish accent on Masked Singer
"Returning this highly questionable money is beyond question the only course of action to take if the Tories want to cling on to any shred of integrity they have left."
The Electoral Commission records show donations from May 2017 to June 2019. They revealed three cash sums of £50,000 as well as auction prizes worth more than £17,000.
A spokesman for Barrowman confirmed the donations were made and “vetted and approved in an open manner”.
Sources told the Mirror on Monday there was no link between the donations and the awarding of £200m in PPE deals to PPE Medpro.
Documents that were leaked in November allegedly show that £65m was paid to a trust benefiting Barrowman in September 2020.
They also suggested that an offshore trust linked to Mone received £29m, which seemingly originated as profits.
Mone is currently on leave from the House of Lords while the National Crime Agency probes the PPE Medpro deal.
Her lawyer has said that “she did not benefit financially and was not connected to PPE Medpro”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel