Who is Michelle Mone and what is the PPE row?

Baroness Michelle Mone will take a leave of absence from the House of Lords after questions around her alleged links to a firm awarded contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE) intensified.

But who is the Tory peer, and what’s so controversial about the contracts? Here’s everything you need to know.

Who is Baroness Mone?

The 51-year-old is a businesswoman and the founder of lingerie company Ultimo.

Born in Glasgow, she left school with no qualifications at 15 and went on to launch ventures in diet pills, fake tan and cryptocurrency. She became a Conservative life peer in 2015.

What is the PPE controversy?

The row around PPE Medpro started swirling back in 2020, when reporters first began asking questions about Baroness Mone’s apparent links to the company.

In 2021, the government revealed that she had referred PPE Medpro via the VIP lane system, with the company awarded two contracts worth £200m.

Last month, Lady Mone faced allegations that she had profited from the business, a claim she denies.

How did the PPE contract system work?

The VIP lane system saw a separate mailbox set up for MPs to send on offers from firms, but led to the government being criticised for giving preferential treatment to companies with political contacts.

Why is Baroness Mone taking a leave of absence?

A spokesman for the peer said she was stepping away from the House of Lords in order to “clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”.

The leave of absence means Baroness Mone will not attend sittings of the House, vote on any proceedings and will not be able to claim any allowance.

Sky News understands she still has the Conservative whip.

What investigations are under way?

Lady Mone is currently under investigation by the House of Lords commissioner for standards, with parliament’s website saying the probe is over “alleged involvement in procuring contracts for PPE Medpro leading to potential breaches…of the House of Lords code of conduct”.

PPE Medpro has also become the subject of a potential fraud investigation by the National Crime Agency.

What does Baroness Mone say?

Baroness Mone has consistently denied any “role or function” in the company, with lawyers previously saying she is “not connected to PPE Medpro in any capacity”.

She has declined to comment on the latest allegations.

Asked in November 2021 why Baroness Mone did not declare PPE Medpro on her Lords register of interests, her lawyer told the Guardian: “For the avoidance of any doubt, Baroness Mone did not declare any interest as she did not benefit financially and was not connected to PPE Medpro in any capacity.”

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What is Labour saying?

The Labour Party is trying to force the government to publish documents relating to the contracts. The government will not order Tory MPs to vote against it in the Commons, meaning the binding motion will pass unopposed.

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner accused members of the Tory party of using the pandemic as an “opportunity” to “get rich”.

Describing the so-called VIP lane as “a scandal of epic proportions”, she said the company was awarded a £122m contract for gowns that “could not be used” and that £700,000 of “taxpayers’ money” a day is now being wasted on storing the unusable PPE.

What was the problem with the PPE?

The 25 million gowns were rejected after a technical inspection, and have never been used in the NHS.

The gowns were required to meet the British Standard for the sterilisation of medical devices or a “technical equivalent”.

PPE Medpro followed the second route, the Guardian reported, which required the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to seek approval from the health regulator, the MHRA, for them to be used in the NHS. They were not approved.

The company has denied that the kit was faulty.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Due diligence was carried out on all companies that were referred to the department and every company was subjected to the same checks.

“We acted swiftly to procure PPE at the height of the pandemic, competing in an overheated global market where demand massively outstripped supply.”

They added the department was “currently engaged in a mediation process with PPE Medpro”, so could not comment on the specifics of the contract.

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