Baroness Michelle Mone has broadened her attack on her political critics, accusing Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch of using “inflammatory” and “reckless” language that could prejudice a police investigation into her role in the awarding of PPE contracts.
A day after she wrote to Sir Keir Starmer, accusing the government of pursuing a vendetta against her, the former Conservative peer responded to comments by Ms Badenoch following a High Court ruling that a company linked to Baroness Mone’s husband must repay £122m received for surgical gowns.
The court found that PPE Medpro, founded by her husband Doug Barrowman, was in breach of contract with the Department of Health and gave it two weeks to repay the sum.
While not a director of the company, Baroness Mone used her political contacts to introduce PPE Medpro to the government’s “VIP fast-lane” at the start of the pandemic, and a family trust of which her children are beneficiaries received £29m of the profits.
A separate criminal investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) is ongoing, and assets linked to the couple worth £75m have been frozen while it continues.
In a series of radio interviews, Ms Badenoch criticised Baroness Mone, accusing her of bringing shame on the Conservative Party and calling for her to step down from the House of Lords.
“Where people do wrong, they should be punished,” she said. “They should face the full force of the law and this is something that I very strongly believe in,” she said.
“And as the prosecution against her continues, they should throw the book at her for every single bit of wrongdoing that has taken place.”
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In a letter from her private office, Baroness Mone accuses the Tory leader of being ignorant of the facts and calls out a series of other Conservative politicians who introduced companies to the VIP lane.
“I was shocked to the core to read about your inflammatory language on BBC Radio yesterday calling for me to resign from the House of Lords,” she writes.
“You are commenting on a live criminal investigation that could prejudice the outcome of any trial, and in so doing, you are reportable to the attorney general for breach of and contempt of court. Does no one ever tell you these things before you and your colleagues make reckless statements in the public domain?”
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Baroness Mone goes on to say the NCA investigation has “nothing to do with PPE Medpro and the contracts”.
“The case theory of the NCA investigation is that I somehow misled the Conservative government about my alleged concealed involvement and ended up pocketing a lot of money,” she writes. “Well I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it isn’t true.”
She also says the Conservative government knew of her involvement and names former health secretary Matt Hancock, Lord Agnew, Lord Feldman and Lord Chadlington as being among 51 “mostly Conservative peers and MPs” who introduced providers to the VIP lane.
“So Kemi, my role was exactly the same as all other Conservative MPs and peers who were trying to help provide PPE… if I have done wrong, then so have all the others in the VIP lane. In which case, you should be calling out for them to resign as well. That’s if you manage to work out what it is they are supposed to have done wrong.”
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She concludes by saying she has no wish to rejoin the Lords as a Conservative Peer when her leave of absence ends, “that’s assuming there still is a Conservative Party before the next General Election”.
The letter comes as an online petition calling for Baroness Mone to step down from the Lords, launched by the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, attracted 60,000 signatures in 24 hours.
The Conservative Party has been approached for comment.
