Baroness Mone has admitted that she stands to make millions from a PPE deal with the Government but claims she “can’t see what we’ve done wrong”.
The former Conservative peer and her billionaire husband Doug Barrowman have now apologised for concealing their role in the £200million deal for more than three years.
In an interview with BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, the 52-year-old denied any wrongdoing, saying: “I can’t see what we have done wrong.”
The lingerie tycoon lobbied Michael Gove and Lord Agnew to secure business for a company Barrowman was involved in, PPE Medpro.
Baroness Mone and Doug Barrowman, pictured in 2019
Getty
The company was then awarded contracts to supply the NHS with medical protective equipment during the pandemic through the ‘VIP lane’ to fast-track preferred partners.
PPE Medpro, which made profits of about £60million, is being sued by the Government for £122million plus costs for alleged “breach of contract and unjust enrichment” Baroness Mone and her lawyers repeatedly insisted she and Barrowman, 58, had nothing to do with the company or the process of awarding the contracts.
The pair were interviewed by the National Crime Agency under caution over allegations of conspiracy to defraud, fraud by false representation and bribery.
In December last year, Baroness Mone took a leave of absence from the House of Lords which her legal team said was to “clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”.
But Baroness Mone admitted on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that she had indeed lied to the Press – and “essentially lied to the public”, the presenter added – when she claimed the couple hadn’t been involved in the firm.
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Baroness Mone in the House of Lords
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She told Kuenssberg: “That’s not a crime. I was protecting my family and I think people will realise that. I was a very successful, individual businesswoman, and since I walked into the House of Lords, it’s been a nightmare for my family.”
Former Government minister Anna Soubry described the exchange as a “car crash”, accusing the baroness of profiteering and now playing the victim to rebuild her reputation.
During the interview, Barrowman admitted that Baroness Mone would benefit from the deal, as would their children.
She added: “If one day, if God forbid, my husband passes away before me, then I am a beneficiary, as well as his children and my children, so yes, of course.”
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting MP said: “Our message to those people who sought to use the pandemic to get rich quick: we want our money back.
“I don’t know who thought it was a good idea for her to do that interview, but I don’t think anyone watching will be shedding any tears.”
Baroness Mone later took to social media to say the 90-minute interview had been “selectively edited down by producers for TV.”
She had previously told a YouTube documentary, funded by PPE Medpro, that she believed she would be cleared of all wrongdoing.
