Rishi Sunak says he's taking the Baroness Mone scandal 'incredibly seriously' as ministers tell lingerie tycoon not to return to the House of Lords after she admitted lying about links to PPE firm that she stands to get millions of pounds from

Rishi Sunak today said he was taking the PPE scandal surrounding Baroness Michelle Mone 'incredibly seriously' - as ministers warned she should not return to the House of Lords.

The former Conservative peer and her billionaire husband gave a 'car crash' TV interview this weekend in which she admitted she stands to benefit from a PPE deal with the Government.

Baroness Mone and Doug Barrowman, speaking on the BBC, apologised for concealing their role in the £200million deal for more than three years.

She had previously repeatedly insisted she had nothing to do with PPE Medpro winning contracts during the pandemic.

The interview, on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, saw Baroness Mone admit she did not tell the truth about her links to the firm – while insisting that she and her husband have 'no case to answer'.

The company is currently being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA), while the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has since issued breach of contract proceedings over a 2020 deal on the supply of gowns.

Asked this morning about Baroness Mone's admission she had lied about her involvement with PPE Medpro, the Prime Minister told reporters during a trip to Scotland: 'The Government takes these things incredibly seriously, which is why we're pursuing legal action against the company concerned in these matters.

'That's how seriously I take it and the Government takes it.

'But it is also subject to an ongoing criminal investigation. And because of that, there's not much further that I can add.'

Government ministers have advised Baroness Mone not to return to the House of Lords, which she has been a member of since 2015 after being handed a peerage by ex-PM David Cameron.

She took a leave of absence from Parliament's upper chamber in December last year, which she said at the time was 'in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her'.

Lord Callanan, the energy efficiency minister, told Sky News this morning: 'I can't comment on the details of the case because obviously there are both criminal and civil legal actions ongoing, and she has to speak for herself.

'I watched the interview yesterday – I think she should have declared her involvement in that in the House of Lords register, and there is guidance available for that.'

He added: 'I would hope that she would see sense (and) make sense of her situation.

'All of the legal actions at the moment will need to run their course, that's a matter for her to decide what she does, but let's wait and see the outcome of the various court cases that are ongoing.'

Asked if Baroness Mone had the right to make laws as a member of Parliament's upper House, Lord Callanan replied: 'I would hope that she would not be coming back to the House of Lords.'

Labour are calling for Michael Gove to appear before MPs after Baroness Mone claimed she contacted the Cabinet minister at the start of the pandemic following a 'call to arms for all lords, baronesses, MPs, senior civil servants, to help, because they needed massive quantities of PPE'.

Labour's shadow Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds last night demanded Mr Gove, who was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster during the Covid crisis, appear in the House of Commons to answer questions following her claim.

In a letter to Mr Gove, he said: 'This series of events has led to civil litigation and an NCA investigation. Yet these ongoing matters should not preclude you from addressing questions about your own involvement and the role of the Government.

'Events so far expose a shocking recklessness by the Conservative Government with regard to public money, and a sorry tale of incompetence in relation to the so-called 'VIP Lane' for procurement during the pandemic.'

Mr Thomas-Symonds said that Mr Gove should answer questions about the so-called 'call to arms' and what further communications he had with Baroness Mone.

'The very least Conservative ministers owe is maximum possible transparency and there should be an urgent statement to Parliament before the Christmas Recess,' he said.

This morning, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeated his party's demand for the Government to make a statement in the Commons and said Baroness Mone should not be sitting in the Lords.

Speaking during a hospital visit in Leeds, Sir Keir said: 'I think that there are now serious questions that I think Michael Gove now, the Government, needs to answer. 

'Who made the original contact? What was the nature of that discussion that led to the situation that we now learn developed.'

'I think they should make a statement in the House of Commons today about this so that the public can hear first-hand what actually happened here.'

Asked if Baroness Mone should be expelled from the Lords, Sir Keir replied: 'I don't think she should be in the Lords. I think the Government should be held to account for this.'

Throughout the couple's TV interview, which some likened to Prince Andrew's notorious Newsnight showdown with Emily Maitlis, Baroness Mone, 52, remained defiant and denied wrongdoing.

'I don't honestly see there is a case to answer,' she told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. 'I can't see what we have done wrong.'

The lingerie tycoon lobbied Mr Gove and Lord Agnew, a fellow Cabinet Office minister, to secure lucrative business for PPE Medpro, a company Mr Barrowman was involved in. 

It was then awarded contracts to supply the NHS with medical protective equipment during the pandemic through the 'VIP lane' to fast-track preferred partners.

The deal yielded profits of about £60million but PPE Medpro is being sued by the Government for £122million plus costs for alleged 'breach of contract and unjust enrichment'. 

The NCA also opened a case in May 2021 looking into the procurement of deals, interviewing the pair under caution over allegations of conspiracy to defraud, fraud by false representation and bribery.

Baroness Mone and her lawyers repeatedly insisted she and Mr Barrowman, 58, had nothing to do with the company or the process of awarding the contracts.

Her legal team told The Mail On Sunday in December 2021: 'Baroness Mone had no knowledge of any 'high-priority lane', and did not play any part in or have any knowledge of PPE Medpro being placed in such a lane.'

In December last year she took a leave of absence from the House of Lords which her legal team said was to 'clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her'.

But Baroness Mone admitted to Ms Kuenssberg that she had indeed lied to the Press – and 'essentially lied to the public', the presenter added – when she claimed the couple hadn't been involved in the firm.

'That's not a crime,' she said. 'I was protecting my family and I think people will realise that.

'I was a very successful, individual businesswoman, and since I walked into the House of Lords, it's been a nightmare for my family.'

Former government minister Anna Soubry described the exchange as a 'car crash', accusing the baroness of profiteering and now playing the victim to rebuild her reputation.

And Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid said: 'This interview was Laura K at her best – asking the right questions and allowing Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman time to answer. And those answers are jaw-dropping.'

During the interview, Mr Barrowman admitted that Baroness Mone would benefit from the deal, as would their children. 

And she confirmed: 'If one day, if God forbid, my husband passes away before me, then I am a beneficiary, as well as his children and my children, so yes, of course.' 

Baroness Mone later tweeted to say the 90-minute interview had been 'selectively edited down by producers for TV'. 

She had previously told a YouTube documentary, funded by PPE Medpro, that she believed she would be cleared of all wrongdoing.

Labour's health spokesman Wes Streeting said: 'Our message to those people who sought to use the pandemic to get rich quick: we want our money back. I don't know who thought it was a good idea for her to do that interview, but I don't think anyone watching will be shedding any tears.'

Meanwhile two experts interviewed for the YouTube documentary, presented by journalist Mark Williams-Thomas, said they had not been informed about Baroness Mone's involvement or where the funding came from. 

Nadra Ahmed, chairman of the National Care Association, told The Sunday Times she was approached to do a general interview about the PPE scandal, adding: 'I was told it was a documentary about PPE, because I would not have got involved with anything where there was a third party involved unless I knew who they were.'

And former clinical vice-president of the Royal College of Physicians, David Oliver, said: 'At no point was it mentioned by the production team that they would be receiving funding from PPE Medpro or any other PPE supplier – let alone that they would be using my interview in a documentary that would be giving a platform to Baroness Mone.

'If either of these things had been made clear to me at any point, I would have refused to be interviewed or have my interview used.'

Mr Williams-Thomas said that at no stage did his team set out to mislead anyone.