It’s been a year since Tory peer Michelle Mone-linked PPE firm missed deadline to repay £148m

It’s been a year since a deadline was set for a PPE firm linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone to repay £148 million of taxpayers’ money after it breached a government contract for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid pandemic and yet nothing has been paid back.

The Department of Health and Social Care sued PPE Medpro over claims the medical gowns it supplied did not comply with relevant healthcare standards.

The High Court ruled Medpro failed to prove whether or not its surgical gowns, which were to be used by NHS workers, had undergone a validated sterilisation process.

PPE Medpro was recommended for a government contract during the Covid pandemic as a result of Baroness Mone referring it through the VIP lane. The company was owned by Mone’s husband Doug Barrowman. The “VIP lane” was an expedited procurement process which fast-tracked (PPE) offers from suppliers recommended by government ministers, MPs, peers, and senior officials.

A high share of the companies routed through the system had direct ties to the Conservative Party or political figures, drawing widespread accusations of cronyism.

Having previously denied gaining directly from the contracts, Baroness Mone, a former Conservative peer and lingerie tycoon, admitted in December 2023 that she stood to benefit from tens of millions of pounds of profit.

Not a single penny has been covered following the scandal with PPE Medpro and now a petition has been organised to recover the money for the NHS.

The petition from the Organise team adds: “The day before the court ruled against them, PPE Medpro ‘went bust’. Mone is still a member of the House of Lords, while PPE Medpro’s millions went into offshore trusts linked to her husband, Doug Barrowman. 

“That’s our money – money that should be going into A&E, hospital beds and NHS staff.”

You can support the petition on the link here.