Tory’s colleague Baroness Michelle Mone – who is at the center of controversy over her alleged links to a company awarded a £200m PPE contract – has lost the Conservative Party’s whip. player, Rishi Sunak confirmed.
Yesterday, Baron Mone said in a statement that she would Leave House of Lords to “clear name” before the allegations.
When questioning the Prime Minister about this at PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer asked: “How is it that his colleague Baron Mone has almost £30 million of taxpayers’ money in her bank account? ?”
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The prime minister said he was “absolutely shocked” to read allegations that Baron Mone had received millions of dollars in profits from a government contract with PPE Medpro.
He told MPs in the House of Commons: “It is true that she is no longer in the House of Commons and therefore is no longer whipped by the Conservative Party.
Losing the whip means an MP is expelled from their party and must sit as an independent until reinstated.
PPE Medpro has been awarded a contract to produce surgical gowns and masks for a period of time COVID pandemic after Baron Mone flagged the company to ministers through a so-called “VIP lane” system.
VIP lane system saw a separate mailbox set up for MPs to send proposals from companies, but resulted in the government being criticized for giving preferential treatment to companies with political ties.
Baron Mone has since faced allegations of profiting from the business, but has consistently denied any “role or function” in the company, with previous attorneys saying she “not affiliated with PPE Medpro in any way”.
Yesterday, a spokesman for Baron Mone said: “With immediate effect, Baron Mone will be taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords to clear her name from the allegations that have been blasphemy. unfair to her.”
The leave of absence means that Baron Mone will not attend sessions of the House of Commons, vote on any proceedings and will not be able to claim any benefits.
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Lord: Mone takes leave
A House of Lords spokesman said: “Baron Mone has written to the Secretary of Parliament to formally request a leave of absence from the House of Lords.
“The secretary has agreed to her request. Baron Mone’s leave is effective immediately.”
Responding to Ms. Mone’s absence, Labour .’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “The Tories are all out of excuses.
“Ministers must now set clear timelines for when, where and how this information will be released. They cannot continue to treat the public as fools by refusing to clarify. what they know about this dodgy deal.
“Rishi Sunak was too weak to draw the whip, and gave it to Baron Mone to finally read the writing on the wall.”
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Calling for the release of PPE contracts awarded to PPE Medpro, Ms Rayner accused members of the Conservative party of using the pandemic as an “opportunity” to “get rich”.
She alleges the company was awarded a £122m contract for “unusable” gowns and £700,000 a day “taxpayer money” is now being wasted in storage PPE cannot be used.
The company has denied that the kit is faulty.
The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Meg Hillier of Labour, told Sky News that “it is likely that we will not fully consider them (Baron Mone’s correspondence) before Christmas”.
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Minister questions about PPE . contract
Baron Mone is currently being investigated by the House of Lords commissioner over standards, with the parliamentary website saying the investigation has concluded “allegations related to procurement of contracts for PPE Medpro leading to the possibility of possibility of violating… the House of Lords code of conduct”.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “Verification is carried out on all companies referred to the department and every company is subject to the same examination.
“We acted quickly to buy PPE at the height of the pandemic, competing in an overheated global market where demand outstrips supply.”
They added that the department is “currently engaged in mediation with PPE Medpro,” so could not comment on contract specifics.
