‘Don’t let the Tories off the hook’
Black’s warning after it is revealed that Mone is no longer a party member
THE fact Michell Mone is no longer a Conservative Party member should let neither her nor the Tories off the hook for the scandal surrounding PPE contracts, the SNP said last night.
The party confirmed yesterday that Mone is no longer a member, following a report in The Sun. Mone also lost the Conservative whip in the House of Lords last year.
Mhairi Black MP, the SNP’s depute Westminster leader, warned that the Tories would try to hide behind Mone’s departure from the party as a way to dodge responsibility for the saga.
Black said: “Neither Baroness Mone or the Tories should be let off the hook simply because she’s no longer a Conservative party member – this scandal runs deep and where any wrongdoing has occurred there must be consequences. The Tories will try to cynically hide behind her removal from the party, but they shouldn’t be allowed to dodge responsibility for the part they’ve played in this.
“Mone was a Conservative member, Conservative peer, and benefited in millions of pounds from this unscrupulous Conservative government – that cannot be forgotten or ignored.
“The UK government must make public all documentation relating to the botched procurement of PPE during the pandemic, and acknowledge that their dodgy deals failed to deliver the necessary equipment at a huge cost to the taxpayer as well as the safety of public sector workers.
“The more this story develops, the murkier it gets for Mone, and for the Tories whose handling of the pandemic and public money has rightly outraged voters across the country. We need answers, and we need this Tory government to take full responsibility.”
Mone yesterday attacked both Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove as questions around her involvement with Covid contracts awarded to her husband’s company mount up.
The formerly Tory baroness spoke out against the two senior Conservatives on social media.
Gove had been facing calls to appear before MPs and make an urgent statement after Mone named him during an interview with the BBC on Sunday. The businesswoman had first contacted Gove lobbying for public contracts on May 8, 2020. Four days later, the firm PPE Medpro was officially created.
On Sunday, Mone said she contacted Gove at the start of the pandemic to offer help, to which his reaction was “this is amazing”.
But now, Mone has said that Gove has questions to answer. Writing on social media, Mone said: “Michael Gove and Sir Chris Wormald [the permanent secretary of the Department of Health and Social Care] approved the purchase of five years’ supply of PPE when the remit was to build up only four months.
“They oversaw huge waste in PPE contracts. They have both had questions to answer for a very long time.”
At the time Mone first lobbied for public contracts for PPE Medpro, Sunak was chancellor. Asked about the scandal during a visit to Scotland, the now Prime Minister largely declined to comment, but insisted the UK Government was taking things “incredibly seriously”.
“First of all, this whole situation is subject to an ongoing criminal investigation but also the Government is taking action, legal action, against the company involved,” Sunak said.
Responding to a broadcast clip showing Sunak’s comments, Mone wrote: “What is @RishiSunak 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.”
Despite now insisting that her involvement with PPE Medpro – which was awarded more than £200 million in Covid contracts – was well known, Mone admitted on Sunday that she had lied to the media for years in
insisting she had no connection to the firm. PPE Medpro is currently being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA), while the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has since issued breach of contract proceedings over a 2020 deal on the supply of gowns.
But although she admitted lying to the media, Mone insisted she was not trying to deceive anyone. “I did make an error in saying to the press that I wasn’t involved,” she said.
“I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, and I regret and I’m sorry for not saying straight out, yes, I am involved.”
Speaking during a visit to Leeds, Labour leader Keir Starmer also criticised Mone and called for Gove to appear before MPs to answer questions.
He said: “This is a shocking disgrace from top to bottom. There are more questions to be answered.”