A Tory minister has called for Michelle Mone to be barred from the House of Lords, after she admitted she stands to benefit from £60million in profit over a PPE contract signed at the height of the Covid pandemic.
On Sunday, the Tory peer said she was “sorry” for denying her links to PPE Medpro, which was awarded government contracts worth more than £200 million to supply personal protective equipment after she recommended it to ministers.
Despite the apology, a defiant Baroness Mone added: “I don’t honestly see there is a case to answer. I can’t see what we have done wrong.”
Baroness Mone has been on a leave of absence from the Lords for more than a year as she bids to “clear her name” over the scandal. She claims she is being used as a scapegoat for the government’s Covid failings.
Now a disastrous BBC interview has seen her face renewed criticism, with energy efficiency minister Lord Callanan calling for her not return to the House of Lords, adding he “would hope that she would see sense”.
Meanwhile, ITV’s Susannah Reid said: “She thinks she is the victim because of the press intrusion… [it is] utterly remarkable she does not see how sensitive this is for people.”
And amid the criticism, Labour’s Wes Streeting has hit out at those he said had wanted to “make a quick buck at someone else’s expense” during the Covid crisis.
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