Tory peer Michelle Mone will take a leave of absence from the House of Lords after reports claimed she raked in £29 million from Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts.
Lady Mone allegedly recommended the firm PPE Medpro for £203,000,000 worth of contracts during the pandemic.
According to documents seen by the Guardian, tens of millions of pounds of the manufacturer’s profits were crammed into an offshore trust that Mone and her children benefited from.
The former lingerie tycoon, who was made a peer by David Cameron in 2015, has previously denied having any connection to the company.
Lady Mone’s spokesman said: ‘With immediate effect, Baroness Mone will be taking a leave of absence 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 she will not attend House sittings, vote on any proceedings and will not be able to claim any allowance.
Labour is now trying to force the Government to release records of contracts awarded to PPE Medpro.
Angela Rayner said companies like PPE Medpro were recommended during the pandemic by Tory ministers, MPs and peers, and given ‘fast track’ and ‘preferential treatment’.
Labour’s deputy leader described the so-called VIP lane as ‘a scandal of epic proportions’.
She said the company was awarded a £122 million 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.
The company has denied the kit was faulty.
Ms Rayner added: ‘This looks very dodgy – people making huge sums of money on PPE that couldn’t be used. It needs to be exposed now. Those documents need to come out and it needs to be out in the open.’
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