UK
Michael Gove and Matt Hancock quizzed by National Crime Agency on Michelle Mone PPE scandal
Former lingerie tycoon Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman came under scrutiny after concerns were raised about her alleged failure to declare financial interests in PPE Medpro
There is no suggestion Michael Gove and Matt Hancock were involved in any alleged wrongdoing
Former lingerie tycoon Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman came under scrutiny after concerns were raised about her alleged failure to declare financial interests in PPE Medpro
There is no suggestion Michael Gove and Matt Hancock were involved in any alleged wrongdoing
(Image: PA)NEWS
By Sophie Huskisson
By Sophie Huskisson
Political Correspondent
Lizzy Buchan
Lizzy Buchan
Deputy Political Editor
26 NOV 2023
Matt Hancock and Michael Gove have been interviewed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of a probe into a PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone.
The ex-Health Secretary and Levelling Up Secretary are among witnesses spoken to by "Britain's FBI" in recent months as part of an inquiry into PPE Medpro, which won £200million of Government contracts to supply masks and gowns during the pandemic.
Others questioned include Lord Bethell, a former Health Minister, and Lord Agnew, who served in the Cabinet Office. It is understood they were interviewed by the NCA as witnesses and not under caution. There is no suggestion they were involved in any alleged wrongdoing.
Lib Dem Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: "Another day, yet another Covid scandal. The public deserve the truth about exactly what went on behind the scenes. The Conservative Government need to be held to account, enough is enough."
(
Image: PA)
Former lingerie tycoon Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman came under scrutiny after concerns were raised about her alleged failure to declare financial interests in PPE Medpro. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is suing PPE Medpro for more than £130m, including storage and costs, over gowns it bought for £122m but says it cannot use because they were not sterile. PPE Medpro rejects the claims.
Baroness Mone announced she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords last December to "clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her", her spokesperson said. The decision caused her to lose the Conservative whip.
The peer, who was nicknamed Baroness Bra due to her background as the founder of lingerie firm Ultimo, was accused to have tried to bully ministers into awarding public PPE contracts to PPE Medpro. She first flagged the company as a possible supplier of PPE five days before the firm was incorporated at Companies House. PPE Medpro was awarded two contracts, one worth £81m to supply masks and another worth £122m for medical gowns between May and June 2020.
Mr Hancock claimed in his 'Pandemic Diaries' she had sent him an "extraordinarily aggressive email" in 2021 to try to secure a contract for an unnamed second firm supplying lateral flow tests. He said he did not reply and the firm was not awarded the contract.
Leaked bank account documents reportedly showed Mr Barrowman received £65m in profits from the PPE deal in September 2020 and then transferred £29m to a trust set up to benefit Baroness Mone and her children the following month. The Mirror revealed earlier this year that Baroness Mone and Ms Barrowman bought a £7m property in the Algarve, Portugal, through an offshore firm last July - three months after their homes were raided by police over the £200m PPE deal.
Matt Hancock and Michael Gove have been interviewed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as part of a probe into a PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone.
The ex-Health Secretary and Levelling Up Secretary are among witnesses spoken to by "Britain's FBI" in recent months as part of an inquiry into PPE Medpro, which won £200million of Government contracts to supply masks and gowns during the pandemic.
Others questioned include Lord Bethell, a former Health Minister, and Lord Agnew, who served in the Cabinet Office. It is understood they were interviewed by the NCA as witnesses and not under caution. There is no suggestion they were involved in any alleged wrongdoing.
Lib Dem Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: "Another day, yet another Covid scandal. The public deserve the truth about exactly what went on behind the scenes. The Conservative Government need to be held to account, enough is enough."
( Image: PA)
Former lingerie tycoon Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman came under scrutiny after concerns were raised about her alleged failure to declare financial interests in PPE Medpro. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is suing PPE Medpro for more than £130m, including storage and costs, over gowns it bought for £122m but says it cannot use because they were not sterile. PPE Medpro rejects the claims.
Baroness Mone announced she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords last December to "clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her", her spokesperson said. The decision caused her to lose the Conservative whip.
The peer, who was nicknamed Baroness Bra due to her background as the founder of lingerie firm Ultimo, was accused to have tried to bully ministers into awarding public PPE contracts to PPE Medpro. She first flagged the company as a possible supplier of PPE five days before the firm was incorporated at Companies House. PPE Medpro was awarded two contracts, one worth £81m to supply masks and another worth £122m for medical gowns between May and June 2020.
Mr Hancock claimed in his 'Pandemic Diaries' she had sent him an "extraordinarily aggressive email" in 2021 to try to secure a contract for an unnamed second firm supplying lateral flow tests. He said he did not reply and the firm was not awarded the contract.
Leaked bank account documents reportedly showed Mr Barrowman received £65m in profits from the PPE deal in September 2020 and then transferred £29m to a trust set up to benefit Baroness Mone and her children the following month. The Mirror revealed earlier this year that Baroness Mone and Ms Barrowman bought a £7m property in the Algarve, Portugal, through an offshore firm last July - three months after their homes were raided by police over the £200m PPE deal.
Michael Gove 'questioned by agents probing Michelle Mone-linked PPE firm'
Lucy Garcia
Sun, 26 November 2023
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has been questioned amid a probe into a PPE firm linked to Michelle Mone, reports say (Image: PA)
MICHAEL Gove and Matt Hancock are among the Tory politicians quizzed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) amid an ongoing probe into a firm linked to Michelle Mone.
The Conservative baroness is understood to have directly lobbied government ministers including Gove as she attempted to secure Covid supply contracts for the firm PPE Medpro.
Mone recommended PPE Medpro to the UK Government as a potential supplier on May 7, 2020. According to Companies House, the firm was not incorporated until five days later, on May 12.
In the preceding months, some £203 million in Covid contracts were awarded to PPE Medpro.
Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, denied they had any financial link with the company for years, despite reports on leaked documents which appeared to show that Barrowman was paid £65m from PPE Medpro profits, £29m of which was transferred to an offshore trust which Mone benefits from.
READ MORE: Woman arrested amid allegations of 'plot to blackmail Michelle Mone'
Earlier in November, in a statement issued to the Guardian, Mone and Barrowman admitted that they are linked to PPE Medpro for the first time.
An ongoing NCA investigation is looking into the possibility of offences such as bribery and fraud. In April 2022, agents raided Mone’s home in London as well as addresses on the Isle of Man as part of the probe.
The Times reported on Sunday that former health secretary Hancock and Levelling Up Secretary Gove were among the politicians who have been interviewed as witnesses.
James Bethell, a hereditary peer who formerly served as a health minister, and Theodore Agnew, another Conservative peer who formerly worked as a Cabinet Office minister, are also reported to have been questioned.
The National: Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove attended a press conference during the British-Irish Council summit at Dublin Castle (Brian Lawless/PA)
Gove (above) has allegedly described Mone as a “right pain in the arse” and asked Agnew to deal with her after she emailed him directly about the possibility of a contract for PPE Medpro.
The baroness emailed Gove on May 8 saying: “We have managed to source PPE masks through my team in Hong Kong. In order to commit to this 100,000 [masks] per day could you please get back to me ASAP as freight will also need to be secured.”
Gove, Hancock, Bethell, and Agnew have all criticised the way in which Mone sought to secure PPE contracts, according to the Times, with the peer accused of trying to “bully” people.
The UK Government is suing PPE Medpro for £122m, alleging that the sterile gowns provided under one contract were not fit for use in the NHS. The firm denies this.
Lucy Garcia
Sun, 26 November 2023
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has been questioned amid a probe into a PPE firm linked to Michelle Mone, reports say (Image: PA)
MICHAEL Gove and Matt Hancock are among the Tory politicians quizzed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) amid an ongoing probe into a firm linked to Michelle Mone.
The Conservative baroness is understood to have directly lobbied government ministers including Gove as she attempted to secure Covid supply contracts for the firm PPE Medpro.
Mone recommended PPE Medpro to the UK Government as a potential supplier on May 7, 2020. According to Companies House, the firm was not incorporated until five days later, on May 12.
In the preceding months, some £203 million in Covid contracts were awarded to PPE Medpro.
Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, denied they had any financial link with the company for years, despite reports on leaked documents which appeared to show that Barrowman was paid £65m from PPE Medpro profits, £29m of which was transferred to an offshore trust which Mone benefits from.
READ MORE: Woman arrested amid allegations of 'plot to blackmail Michelle Mone'
Earlier in November, in a statement issued to the Guardian, Mone and Barrowman admitted that they are linked to PPE Medpro for the first time.
An ongoing NCA investigation is looking into the possibility of offences such as bribery and fraud. In April 2022, agents raided Mone’s home in London as well as addresses on the Isle of Man as part of the probe.
The Times reported on Sunday that former health secretary Hancock and Levelling Up Secretary Gove were among the politicians who have been interviewed as witnesses.
James Bethell, a hereditary peer who formerly served as a health minister, and Theodore Agnew, another Conservative peer who formerly worked as a Cabinet Office minister, are also reported to have been questioned.
The National: Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove attended a press conference during the British-Irish Council summit at Dublin Castle (Brian Lawless/PA)
Gove (above) has allegedly described Mone as a “right pain in the arse” and asked Agnew to deal with her after she emailed him directly about the possibility of a contract for PPE Medpro.
The baroness emailed Gove on May 8 saying: “We have managed to source PPE masks through my team in Hong Kong. In order to commit to this 100,000 [masks] per day could you please get back to me ASAP as freight will also need to be secured.”
Gove, Hancock, Bethell, and Agnew have all criticised the way in which Mone sought to secure PPE contracts, according to the Times, with the peer accused of trying to “bully” people.
The UK Government is suing PPE Medpro for £122m, alleging that the sterile gowns provided under one contract were not fit for use in the NHS. The firm denies this.
No comments:
Post a Comment