Cabinet minister Michael Gove has revealed that he has being cooperating with the National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into the scandal surrounding Baroness Michelle Mone’s firm PPE Medpro.
Baroness Mone has insisted that Mr Gove and other ministers knew “all about” her involvement with a PPE firm “from the very beginning” – as she continues to lash out at Rishi Sunak’s government.
On Tuesday she fired back at ex-health minister Lord Bethell after he accused her of being dishonest – mocking him for “mysteriously” discovering messages he had claimed were deleted.
The rows follow the peer’s admission that she had lied by denying links to PPE Medpro – a consortium led by her husband which made millions from a protective equipment (PPE) deal during the Covid crisis.
Asked about Lady Mone, Mr Gove said: “There is a National Crime Agency investigation going on. I’ve cooperated with that inquiry, because I want to ensure that it reaches its conclusion quickly, that justice can be served.”
The levelling up secretary also told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted to see a criminal case “being brought” against Baroness Michelle Mone “as quickly as possible”.
But Mr Gove’s aide later said he had “misspoke” – insisting that the minister had only meant to say that he hoped the NCA would conclude its inquiries soon.
The cabinet minister also fended off questions about his role in approving PPE deals, saying: “If there are further questions to be asked on PPE procurement, and I believe that the government has a strong record – then I’m more than happy to do so with the Covid inquiry.”
Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman on BBC— (BBC Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg)
Lady Mone’s big BBC interview on Sunday saw her namecheck Mr Gove – saying she contacted the then chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the Cabinet Office at the start of the pandemic to offer help.
The Tory peer also accused Mr Gove and the top health department official Sir Chris Wormald of overseeing a “huge waste in PPE contracts”. She said they both “need to be held to account”.
On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme – her first major broadcast interview since the controversy emerged – the peer admitted she did not tell the truth about her connection to PPE Medpro.
Lady Mone insisted that she and her husband have “no case to answer”. But she conceded she stands to benefit from contracts worth more than £200m to supply gowns and face masks.
The government last December issued breach of contract proceedings against PPE Medpro over the 2020 deal on the supply of sterile gowns. The firm is defending the legal action. The company is also being investigated by the NCA for suspected criminal offences in the procurement of PPE contracts.
Gove stated he wanted to see a criminal case against Mone as ‘quickly as possible’ but aides later said he misspoke— (PA)
Mr Sunak told reporters on Monday that his government “takes these things incredibly seriously, which is why we’re pursuing legal action against the company concerned in these matters”.
Reacting to his remarks on X/Twitter, Lady Mone posted: “What is Rishi Sunak talking about? I was honest with the Cabinet Office, the government and the NHS in my dealings with them. They all knew about my involvement from the very beginning.”
But this was rejected by Tory former health minister Lord Bethell – who replied that she “wasn’t ‘honest’ about her financial interest to me”.
Lord Bethell said: “She didn’t explain ‘from the very beginning’ about her financial involvement,” he said – sharing a message from her from October 2020, adding that it was not in her register of financial interests as a member of the Lords.
But Ms Mone fired back at Lord Bethell on X by pointing out that he had previously claimed his messages from 2020 had been deleted.
She posted: “You seem to have mysteriously discovered access to your text messages from 2020. Now you’ve finally found them, will you be sending them all to the Covid inquiry?”
Defending herself again on X on Tuesday, Ms Mone accused the Cabinet Office of “using us to hide their own shocking failures on PPE!”
A spokesperson for Lady Mone told Sky News that there were over 1,000 pieces of correspondence between her, Mr Gove, the Cabinet Office and the health department about the procurement of PPE.
Sir Keir Starmer has said Lady Mone should be expelled from the Lords, as he urged Tory ministers to “come clean” about the scandal that he described as a “shocking disgrace”.
The Labour leader piled pressure on Mr Gove and others to answer “serious questions” about what they knew – including who started the conversations with Lady Mone in the first place.
Labour has urged Mr Gove to make a statement in the Commons – while the Liberal Democrats have called for a Cabinet Office probe into the issue.
There are reports that Mone is no longer a member of the Conservative Party— (PA)
Lady Mone, made a Conservative peer by David Cameron in 2015, has been on a leave of absence from the Lords and therefore without the Tory whip since December 2022.
However, the Lords still categorises her as a Tory peer, although there have been reports that she is no longer a member of the party.
Asked if she should have whip stripped, Mr Gove claimed: “My understanding, and I’m not expert, is that she is not a Conservative peer. My understanding is that she is not a member of a Conservative body.”
Nadine Dorries waded into the row over Lady Mone’s peerage, questioning “why she was made a peer at all”.
Tory ministers echoed the calls for the lingerie entrepreneur not to return to the upper chamber. Energy efficiency minister Lord Callanan and energy secretary Claire Coutinho said she should “consider her position”.
