Michelle Mone: Who is she and what’s the PPE controversy swirling across the Tory peer?
By Josephine Franks, information reporter
Baroness Michelle Mone says the general public notion of her is of a “horrible person, a liar, a cheat and a thief” on account of a controversial PPE deal through the pandemic.
But who’s the Tory peer, what was so controversial in regards to the PPE contracts and why is she again within the highlight? Here’s every thing you’ll want to know.
Who is Baroness Mone?
The 52-year-old is a businesswoman and the founding father of lingerie firm Ultimo.
Born in Glasgow, she left faculty with no {qualifications} at 15 and went on to launch ventures in fat burners, faux tan and cryptocurrency. She turned a Conservative life peer in 2015.
What is the PPE controversy?
The row round PPE Medpro began swirling again in 2020, when reporters first started asking questions on Baroness Mone’s obvious hyperlinks to the corporate.
In 2021, the federal government revealed that she had referred PPE Medpro through the VIP lane system, with the corporate awarded two contracts value £200m.
Baroness Mone confronted allegations that she had profited from the business, a declare she initially denied.
She took a go away of absence from the House of Lords in 2022 consequently, as a way to “clear her identify of the allegations which were unjustly levelled in opposition to her”.
The contracts are nonetheless being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
What did she say initially?
Baroness Mone constantly denied any “position or operate” within the firm up till November 2023, with legal professionals beforehand saying she is “not related to PPE Medpro in any capability”.
Asked in November 2021 why Baroness Mone didn’t declare PPE Medpro on her Lords register of pursuits, her lawyer instructed the Guardian: “For the avoidance of any doubt, Baroness Mone didn’t declare any curiosity as she didn’t profit financially and was not related to PPE Medpro in any capability.”
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