JEREMY Hunt has said any allegations of illegality should be reported to the police as Labour challenged him over the case of Baroness Michelle Mone.
The Chancellor refused to comment on the specific case or claims related to PPE Medpro, a consortium led by Lady Mone’s husband Doug Barrowman, which made millions of pounds in profits from a Government deal to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.
Shadow Treasury minister Darren Jones raised Barrowman’s claim that he was asked by a Government official if he would pay money for a law enforcement investigation to be called off.
The company is 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.
Labour frontbencher Jones said in the Commons: “The public have a right to know why so many billions of pounds of their taxes have been wasted by this government.
READ MORE: When Michelle Mone put The National 'on legal notice'
“Baroness Mone has claimed today that Conservative ministers knew about her personal connection to the company PPE Medpro from the very beginning.
“So why didn’t the Government correct the record when a misleading picture was being painted in the media about Baroness Mone’s personal connection to PPE Medpro in the first place?”
Hunt said: “I’m not going to comment on allegations by Baroness Mone or indeed on the individual case.
“But let me say this: we put together a taskforce of over 1,000 people that opened 46,000 investigations and have made so far over 80 arrests.
“So we will stop at nothing to tackle fraud and bring to justice anyone who was responsible for wrongdoing.
“But what we did in a moment of extreme crisis was to make sure we got PPE to the frontline as quickly as we could and had we not done so many more lives would have been lost.”
Jones replied: “We all know that Baroness Mone’s enrichment via PPE Medpro is subject to an investigation. But that doesn’t allow ministers to refuse to answer questions here in the House today.”
He asked: “Baroness Mone’s husband Doug Barrowman alleged that in November 2022 he was approached by a Government official asking if they would ‘pay more for the other matter to go away’.
“Is this specific and incredibly serious claim now being investigated? And if so, by whom?”
Hunt said: “If he has got any evidence of people behaving improperly or illegally then he should tell the police and he will get the full support of this Government and indeed the whole House in bringing the matter to justice.
“But let me just say to him, any responsible opposition should understand that in a crisis there is a trade-off between speed and taking longer to prevent fraud.
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak under pressure from Tory MPs to back immediate ceasefire
“We took the right decision to save as many lives as possible.”
Speaking to the BBC, Barrowman alleged that he was asked by a Government official if he would “would pay more money for the NCA investigation to be called off”.
Asked why he did not take the allegation to the police, he said: “I take the advice of my legal team, and the legal team at that point in time suggested that we park that one for now.”
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden has previously indicated he would be “very surprised” if that was the case but said there is a “proper process” under way examining the details of the case.
Lady Mone also recently told a YouTube documentary that she and her husband would both be cleared, arguing they have “done nothing wrong”.
The film, part of a public fightback, was 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