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UK parliamentarian admits lying about lucrative pandemic contracts but says she’s done nothing wrong

Published:Sunday | December 17, 2023 | 10:31 AM
Baroness Michelle Mone looks on ahead of the State Opening of Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II, in the House of Lords at the Palace of Westminster in London, June 21, 2017. A member of Britain’s House of Lords has acknowledged that she repeatedly lied about her links to a company that was awarded lucrative government contracts to supply protective masks and gowns during the coronavirus pandemic. Underwear tycoon Michelle Mone said she had made an “error” in denying connections to the company PPE Medpro and regretted threatening to sue journalists who alleged she had ties to the firm. (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/PA via AP, File)

LONDON (AP) — A member of Britain's House of Lords has acknowledged that she repeatedly lied about her links to a company that was awarded lucrative government contracts to supply protective masks and gowns during the coronavirus pandemic.

Underwear tycoon Michelle Mone said that she had made an “error” in denying connections to the company PPE Medpro, and regretted threatening to sue journalists who alleged she had ties to the firm. Her husband, Doug Barrowman, has acknowledged he led the consortium that owns the company.

“I did make an error in saying to the press that I wasn't involved,” Mone said in a BBC interview broadcast Sunday.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I wasn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, and I regret and I'm sorry for not saying straight out, 'Yes, I am involved.'”

Mone admitted that she is a beneficiary of her husband's financial trusts, which hold about 60 million pounds ($76 million) in profits from the deal.

But she argued that the couple were being made “scapegoats” in a wider scandal about UK government spending during the pandemic.

“We've done one thing, which was lie to the press to say we weren't involved,” she said, adding: “I can't see what we've done wrong.”

The case has come to symbolise the hundreds of millions of pounds wasted through hastily awarded contracts for protective equipment.

The UK government has come under heavy criticism for its so-called VIP lanes during the pandemic — where preferential treatment for public contracts was given to companies recommended by politicians.

Mone, founder of the Ultimo lingerie firm, was appointed to Parliament's unelected upper house in 2015 by then Prime Minister David Cameron, who is now the UK foreign minister. A year ago, she said that she was taking a leave of absence from Parliament to “clear her name” over the scandal.

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