We have been reporting throughout the day that Baroness Michelle Mone has admitted she stands to benefit from a contract between the government and PPE firm Medpro (see post from 08.20am).
The Conservative peer and Ultimo bra tycoon has previously conceded she made an “error” in publicly denying her links to the firm, which was awarded huge contracts during the pandemic and is being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Politics reporter Jennifer-Anne Scott has put together this timeline of the row:
March 2020
The UK government announces its first COVID pandemic lockdown and starts trying to source more PPE supplies due to rocketing demand.
May 2020
Baroness Mone emails Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and Tory peer Lord Agnew, saying she could use her contacts in Hong Kong to get more PPE to the UK, and her offer is added to the so-called “VIP lane”.
Days later, the company PPE MedPro is incorporated as a company – though her husband, Doug Barrowman, is not named.
The company is then awarded its first contract with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for £80.85m for the supply of 210 million face masks.
June 2020
PPE MedPro is awarded its second contact by the DHSC – this time for £122m for 25 million sterile surgical gowns
November 2020
Baroness Mone’s lawyers say she is “not connected in anyway with PPE MedPro”, while Mr Barrowman’s legal representatives said he “never had any role or function” in the firm.
December 2020
The DHSC reveals the gowns it had purchased from PPE MedPro had “not been distributed to the frontline” as questions are raised by sources to The Guardian newspaper over whether they are fit for use.
Lawyers representing Baroness Mone and her husband continue to deny their involvement, and tell journalists any suggestion of an association would be “inaccurate”, “misleading” and “defamatory”.
November 2021
A Freedom of Information request reveals Baroness Mone referred the company to the government through Mr Gove and Lord Agnew, which later was processed through the VIP lane.
January 2022
The Guardian reports leaked files that suggest Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman were involved in the company after she had made the referral.
The article alleges the pair were both informed of commercial arrangements, including over WhatsApp.
The House of Lords’ standards commissioner launches an investigation into whether Baroness Mone breached the code of conduct by failing to register her interest in PPE MedPro and by lobbying the government on its behalf.
Baroness Mone refutes all the allegations against her.
April 2022
The National Crime Agency opens its own investigation into PPE MedPro.
November 2022
Further documents leaked to The Guardian reveal Baroness Mone and her children would receive £29m of the profits from the firm, placed into a trust that they would be the beneficiaries of.
December 2022
The government confirms it has started legal action to recover more than £100m from PPE Medpro after the gowns it supplied had been rejected.
The DHSC is seeking the full £122m for the contract, as well as the costs for storing and destroying the garments.
Baroness Mone announces she is taking a leave of absence from the Lords in order to “clear her name”.
November 2023
Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman confirm for the first time they were involved in the company – including that he chaired and led the operation, and put up half the money for PPE MedPro.
December 2023
In their first interview since the scandal erupted, Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman admit they lied to the press and the public by not revealing their involvement in PPE MedPro, and apologise.
She also confirms that the profits from the company had been put into a trust and she and her family were named beneficiaries.
However, the pair claimed they are being made “scapegoats” for the government’s wider failings over PPE.
