The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s comments came after a scandal-hit firm linked to the Baroness was ordered to repay over £121million for breaching a Covid PPE contract
Kemi Badenoch has said Michelle Mone has brought “shame” on the Tories and should have the book thrown at her.
The Conservative leader’s comments came after a scandal-hit firm linked to the Baroness was ordered to repay over £121million for breaching a Covid PPE contract. Baroness Mone, who is currently on a leave of absence from the Lords, had the Conservative whip removed in 2022 by ex-PM Rishi Sunak.
Speaking to BBC Radio Derby on Thursday, Ms Badenoch said Ms Mone should have the “book thrown at her”. She said: “Michelle Mone is not a Conservative peer. She has had the whip removed because she did something wrong.
“She brought a lot of embarrassment and shame to the party, and made people think that she had got those contracts because she was a Conservative. Absolutely not the case.”
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho also told reporters Baroness Mone should resign from the Lords. She said: “It was also a Conservative government who started the lawsuit.
“The lawsuit, which means that she’s had to repay this money, started in, I think it was 2022, when Rishi Sunak was Prime Minister. We’ve taken away the Conservative whip, she’s no longer a Conservative peer, and I think the honourable thing to do, particularly in light of this, would be to resign.”
Peerages can only be removed by an act of Parliament but Baroness Mone could chose to resign from being a member of the Lords.
PPE Medpro – a company linked to Baroness Mone – was awarded government contracts during the Covid crisis by the Conservative government. It was tasked with supplying 25 million surgical gowns during the pandemic.
But it was sued by the Department of Health and Social Care over allegations it provided “faulty” goods and on Wednesday a High Court judge ruled the firm breached the contract. The firm, a consortium led by Baroness Mone’s husband, businessman Doug Barrowman, has now been ordered to pay £122million by 4pm on October 15.
After the judgement on Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “We want our money back. We are getting our money back. And it will go where it belongs – in our schools, NHS and communities.”
In a letter to Keir Starmer, Baroness Mone accused the government of an “orchestrated campaign of intimidation and reputation destruction”. In the letter reported by the Daily Record, she said had received “threatening and abusive communications” following comments by Ms Reeves and the PM.
She added: “I attribute these directly to the campaign being waged by your Cabinet and your communications team to make this about me personally. I would like to remind you of the tragic case of Caroline Flack, which shows the fatal consequences of personalised public vilification.”
“These actions amount to an orchestrated campaign of intimidation and reputational destruction.”
Mr Barrowman described the ruling as a “travesty of justice”, adding: “Her judgment bears little resemblance to what actually took place during the month-long trial, where PPE Medpro convincingly demonstrated that its gowns were sterile. This judgment is a whitewash of the facts and shows that justice was being seen to be done, where the outcome was always certain for the DHSC and the Government.”
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