Lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone and her husband claim they are victims of a ‘politically motivated witch-hunt’ after accusing the Covid inquiry of being an ‘establishment cover-up’.
The 53-year-old entrepreneur said she was ‘being silenced’ from the three-year probe after having their request to be core participants – enabling them special legal privileges such as questioning witnesses and accessing evidence – turned down by the inquiry chairman.
The former Conservative peer and her billionaire husband Doug Barrowman have come under scrutiny after Mr Barrowman’s firm PPE Medpro was awarded contracts worth more than £200million to provide equipment during the pandemic upon Baroness Mone’s recommendation. They denied any wrongdoing.
The Covid Inquiry’s chairman Baroness Hallett has already ruled that evidence will be heard in private to avoid prejudicing a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation.
In a statement on social media Baroness Mone – whose lingerie brand Ultimo earned her the nickname Baroness Bra – said the decision to hold ‘closed-door sessions’ was ‘a blatant betrayal of transparency and justice’.
She claimed: ‘While the inquiry refused to exclude PPE Medpro, it handed the NCA the power to dictate the proceedings behind a wall of secrecy, ensuring that only their version of events is heard.’
She said the NCA ‘actively tried to block PPE Medpro from being discussed in the inquiry’, and accused it of waging ‘a ruthless campaign to destroy us, dragging out an investigation with no merit, no justification and no end in sight’.
She added: ‘A public inquiry should be about truth. Instead, this process is rigged – held in secret, controlled by those who fear the truth, with a predetermined outcome. We have spent enormous sums fighting a politically motivated witch-hunt.’
Lingerie tycoon Baroness Michelle Mone (pictured) and her husband say they are victims of a ‘politically motivated witch hunt’ after accusing the Covid-19 inquiry of being an ‘establishment cover-up’
The furious 53-year-old entrepreneur (pictured) said she was ‘being silenced’ from the three-year probe after having their request to become so-called core participants – enabling them special legal privileges such as questioning witnesses and accessing evidence – turned down
The former Conservative peer (right) and her billionaire husband Doug Barrowman (left) have come under scrutiny after Mr Barrowman’s firm PPE Medpro was awarded lucrative contracts to provide equipment during the pandemic via a ‘VIP lane’, upon Lady Mone’s recommendation
In a statement on social media (pictured) – her first on X for nearly a year – Baroness Mone said the decision to hold ‘closed-door sessions’ was ‘a blatant betrayal of transparency and justice’
The NCA launched an investigation into the firm in May 2021 over suspected criminal offences committed over the contracts.
The agency said there was a ‘realistic possibility that criminal charges against one or more individuals will flow from the investigation’.
PPE Medpro was awarded two Government contracts in 2020 – one for £80.85million to supply face masks, and a second for £122million to supply 25 million sterile surgical gowns.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has since issued breach of contract proceedings over the deal.
The couple’s initial bid for core participant status was rejected last month after Baroness Hallett said their request came more than a year after the deadline.
The inquiry, reckoned to be the most expensive in British history, is not due to conclude until at least next year.