The new Guardian revelations about Michelle Mone – claims that she and her children secretly received £29m originating from the profits of a PPE business that was awarded large government contracts after she recommended it to ministers – go way beyond startling headlines. They also clearly highlight the conflicts of interest and failures of due diligence that lay behind the waste of billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money, and a Tory “VIP lane” that was declared illegal by the high court earlier this year.
We learn that PPE Medpro was given £203m to supply face masks and sterile surgical gowns at the height of the pandemic. Lady Mone, a Tory peer, referred PPE MedPro to the Cabinet Office in May 2020, five days before it was even registered as a company. She contacted the then ministers Michael Gove and fellow Conservative peer Lord Agnew, offering to supply PPE – for a price. Lord Agnew referred PPE Medpro to the “VIP lane”, fast-tracking the bid for public contracts.
