BARONESS Michelle Mone has said she stands to benefit from a contract between the UK Government and PPE firm Medpro in her first major broadcast interview since the scandal emerged.
The Conservative peer and Ultimo bra tycoon faced questions over the controversy surrounding “VIP lane” contracts during the coronavirus pandemic when she appeared on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme on Sunday.
It comes after she conceded she made an “error” in publicly denying her links to the firm, which is being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
PPE Medpro was awarded Government contracts worth more than £200 million to supply personal protective equipment after she recommended it to ministers.
READ MORE: Michelle Mone 'played high-risk game' with 'dishonest' legal threats, says expert
Mone admitted she is a beneficiary of her husband Doug Barrowman’s financial trusts, which hold around £60m of profit from the deal.
Barrowman admitted to the BBC that they profited and that there was "a good return for the risk involved".
Mone insisted the "only error" she had made was lying to the press about her and her family's involvement, but insisted it was "not a crime".
The couple claimed they have been made “scapegoats” for the UK government’s wider failings over PPE.
Mone has previously repeatedly denied that she had profited from the deal, which she first discussed with government ministers including Michael Gove.
It was during her chat with the BBC that she conceded to making repeated untruthful statements in relation to the matter.
Mone told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “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.”
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.
READ MORE: Suella Braverman awarded D*ck of the Year whilst launching small boat
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, and I regret and I’m sorry for not saying straight out, yes, I am involved.”
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has since issued breach of contract proceedings over the 2020 deal on the supply of gowns.
Millions of gowns supplied by the company were never used by health services.
The couple insisted the gowns were supplied under the terms of the contract.
Mone, who was interviewed alongside her husband Barrowman, recently told a YouTube documentary that they both would be cleared, arguing they have “done nothing wrong”.
The film, part of a public fightback, is believed to have been funded by PPE Medpro.
Mone, who was made a peer by David Cameron, recently made a Lord so he could take on the role of Foreign Secretary, in 2015, has argued she is being used as a scapegoat by the Government for its own Covid failings.
When it was put to Mone that the "truth had to be dragged out" of her by Kuenssberg, she replied: "Not really Laura, the only error I have made is I said to the press that I wasn’t involved."
Mone then said she didn't believe the couple had a "case to answer" and insisted they had not done anything wrong.
READ MORE: The inside story of how Scotland was snubbed from a global AI event by Westminster
She 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.”
The peer argued that she was protecting her family from the press, taking issue with the scrutiny she came under from journalists after joining the House of Lords.
"That’s not a crime," she repeated, after admitting to lying to journalists.
"The press have got nothing to do with my family, I was protecting my family."
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden (below) was asked about Mone's comments on Sunday and the couple's claims that they were being made "scapegoats" by the Government.
“I don’t accept that," he said.
“What I would say is that there is an ongoing investigation by both the National Crime Agency and, indeed, the Department of Health is suing the company concerned in civil litigation.
“So, there’s a limit to what I can say, but I don’t recognise that.”
It comes as two experts who appeared in the film told The Sunday Times that they were unaware in advance of the intended focus of the documentary or its funding.
Former detective-turned-investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas, who presented and produced, the documentary, said: “For the Sunday Times to suggest contributors were duped is totally refuted , un- evidenced and totally incorrect & unfair reporting.
“Both individuals have said they would have said exactly the same had they known the programme was eventually funded by 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