Kemi Badenoch criticized Michelle Mone, stating that her actions had brought disgrace upon the Conservative Party and that she should face severe consequences. Badenoch’s remarks were made in response to a scandal involving a company associated with Baroness Mone, which was instructed to repay more than £121 million for violating a Covid PPE contract. Following this incident, Mone, who is currently on a leave of absence from the House of Lords, had her Conservative party membership revoked in 2022 by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
During an interview with BBC Radio Derby, Badenoch emphasized that Mone, despite being a peer, no longer represented the Conservative Party due to her misconduct. She highlighted that Mone’s actions had tarnished the party’s reputation and misled people into believing that she secured contracts solely because of her political affiliation, which was not the case.
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho also expressed her opinion that Baroness Mone should resign from the House of Lords. Coutinho pointed out that the lawsuit against Mone, resulting in the substantial repayment, was initiated during Rishi Sunak’s tenure as Prime Minister in 2022. Following the removal of her Conservative peer status, Coutinho suggested that resigning would be the honorable course of action in light of the circumstances.
Although peerages can only be relinquished through an act of Parliament, Baroness Mone has the option to voluntarily step down from her position in the House of Lords. The controversy stemmed from PPE Medpro, a company linked to Baroness Mone, which secured government contracts during the Covid-19 crisis under the Conservative administration. The company was tasked with providing 25 million surgical gowns during the pandemic.
However, the Department of Health and Social Care sued PPE Medpro for allegedly supplying substandard goods, leading to a High Court ruling against the firm for breaching the contract. The consortium, led by Baroness Mone’s husband, Doug Barrowman, was instructed to repay £122 million by a specified deadline.
Following the court’s decision, Chancellor Rachel Reeves affirmed that the government was committed to recovering the funds to benefit essential services such as schools, the NHS, and local communities. In a letter addressed to Keir Starmer, Baroness Mone accused the government of orchestrating a campaign to damage her reputation through intimidation tactics. She highlighted receiving threatening communications following comments made by Rachel Reeves and the Prime Minister, citing concerns over personal vilification’s potential consequences.
Barrowman criticized the court ruling, labeling it a miscarriage of justice and suggesting that the judgment did not align with the evidence presented during the trial. He claimed that the outcome was predetermined in favor of the Department of Health and Social Care and the government, portraying the verdict as a distortion of the facts and a biased representation of justice.