PPE contract linked to Michelle Mone is not getting enough media scrutiny

The First Minister and her government, quite correctly, have questions to answer regarding procedures involved in the ferry contracts case, yet it is galling that BBC Scotland and the majority of the UK media will turn a Nelsonian eye to overwhelming evidence of Westminster-based corruption and incompetence whilst joyfully attacking the Scottish Government and its ministers.

READ MORE: Michelle Mone-linked PPE firm 'made £76m on PPE NHS sale'

The recent case involving Tory peer Michelle Mone reminds us of the scale of incestuous corruption and breathtaking dishonesty at the heart of the UK Government. As arms manufacturers often view the outbreak of war as an opportunity to amorally line their pockets, so it appears many Tories and their confederates saw the pandemic as a chance to increase their wealth regardless of the consequences to the public purse or indeed the public itself.

PPE that was bought from a Chinese manufacturer for £46 million by the firm PPE Medpro was then sold on to the UK Government for £122 million after Ms Mone allegedly used her in-house contacts to enlist the support of Cabinet minister Michael Gove to join the VIP lane for public contracts. The fact that the gowns purchased failed a government inspection and were never used increases a sense of outrage that public money should be distributed in such a devious and selfish fashion during a time of genuine crisis and uncertainty.

READ MORE: Leaked emails show Michael Gove was involved in lucrative PPE deal

Of course Ms Mone, whose first vote in the House of Lords was to controversially endorse government cuts to tax credits for low-income families, insists she has done nothing wrong and distances herself and her husband from the contracts debacle. Nevertheless, cases like Ms Mone’s and that of the Chancellor’s wife, who continues to benefit financially from companies still operating in Russia, show the priorities of the Tory party and government have always been and will always be the accumulation of wealth, irrespective of circumstances or the effect on others.

There’s a lesson there for those of us who crave an independent Scotland – prepare for a bruising encounter in which our natural resources and wealth are prize assets.

Owen Kelly
Stirling

THE biased BBC in fine form at the moment with Glen Campbell in full anti-SNP mode and every Tory MP piling in on Twitter and of the course the press following along like a lap dog.

The ferry saga is of course not good and has cost more than it should have, but at the end we will have ferries and we will have a Scottish shipbuilding yard.

Compare and contrast the still largely uncovered PPE fast-lane procurement in Westminster. In one example, a firm linked to Michelle Mone paid a Chinese company £46 million and sold it to the Government for £122m – that is £76m profit on ONE PPE order and there were dozens more.

READ MORE: I wouldn’t be taking any advice on ferry contracts from the Tories

To add insult to injury, supplies from this company did not pass inspection and are in a queue of millions of pounds worth of PPE waiting to be burned.

That £76m of profit on one fast-lane PPE multiplied by the millions of pounds stuffing the pockets of pals and cronies of the Tory party would pay for many ferries 10 times over – but at least we will have ferries and a shipyard. The PPE saga will just cause pollution from the burning fires that will heat no-one.

The BBC is silent in both in England and Scotland – but of course they are impartial.

Winifred McCartney
Paisley

I WONDER if anyone else who listens to radio has noticed two items of subliminal UK Government propaganda, paid for of course by our taxes, which infuriate me?

First is the blatant advert encouraging businesses to consider exporting and offering them advice and assistance from a government unit to give them the “exporter’s edge”. One version specifically uses only Scottish voices, making it obvious that this is intended to make Scots believe that the UK has their interests at heart with its help and largesse.

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This from the Government which has removed Scots exporters from their largest market, decimated existing exports and forced many out of business! The Jouker might like to compare these losses with the success so far of the UK helpline. Rees Mogg’s “Brexit Opportunities”?

Second is that this is often soon followed by the playing of “Land of Hope and Glory”! A great, singable bit of music but could any words less represent the UK? Perhaps it is time for us to rewrite them, maybe something like this:

Land of broke and starving,
Mother of deceit.
Why should we extol thee,
Who have nothing to eat?

Wider still and wider,
Spreads thy corruption’s net.
Scots who all are watching,
Will see your comeuppance yet.

Come on, folks, maybe we should have a competition for the best rewrite.

L McGregor
Falkirk

LET’S all spare some thought for Dawn Butler MP, who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.

As a surviving prostate cancer patient I am supportive of cancer charities particularly, and like to think I am helping others to survive any form of cancer.

So, good luck Dawn with your treatment and get well soon enough. And let’s all be thankful for our NHS.

Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife