Michelle Mone has accused the federal government of creating her and her husband a “poster couple for the PPE scandal”, in a prolonged on-line tirade.
The Tory peer claimed the federal government had turned down multimillion-pound presents to settle a Excessive Court docket authorized battle with an organization she is linked with.
PPE Medpro, a consortium led by Baroness Mone’s husband, businessman Doug Barrowman, is being sued by the Division of Well being and Social Care (DHSC) over claims it breached a contract for 25 million surgical robes throughout the COVID pandemic.
She had initially denied involvement within the firm or the method via which it was handed the federal government contract.
Picture:Baroness Mone of Mayfair, after being made a Tory peer.
Nevertheless, it was later revealed that Baroness Mone was the “source of referral” for the agency getting a spot on the so-called “VIP lane” for presents of private protecting gear for the NHS.
Legal professionals for the federal government beforehand informed a trial that it was entitled to get well the £121m price of the contract, which the corporate opposes.
Mrs Justice Cockerill is because of hand down her ruling tomorrow – whereas court docket data confirmed PPE Medpro filed a “notice of appointment to appoint an administrator” on Tuesday.
And in a submit on X on Tuesday, Baroness Mone claimed PPE Medpro provided to switch the robes earlier than providing a money sum to settle the case throughout the trial, which was rejected.
“Instead, the DHSC chose to spend a staggering £5m of taxpayers’ money pursuing litigation against a company they knew had no funds,” she stated.
She stated she and Mr Barrowman had “worked tirelessly with the DHSC to resolve this dispute”, and that PPE Medpro had “fulfilled its contracts”.
“This case was never about gowns or money,” she stated.
“It has all the time been about politics and blame-shifting, a approach to cowl up the federal government’s disastrous £10bn PPE write-off.
“Doug and I’ve been intentionally scapegoated and vilified in an orchestrated marketing campaign designed to distract from catastrophic mismanagement of PPE procurement.
“The government decided to make us the poster couple for the PPE scandal, a convenient distraction to take the blame off them.”
She added that “many other suppliers who ran off with deposits or provided defective goods face no action”.
“Singling out one company in this way is not justice; it is scapegoating,” she stated.
A authorities spokesperson stated they “could not comment on active legal proceedings”.
