Michelle Mone to take 'leave of absence' from House of Lords amid PPE allegations

06.12.2022 - 16:19 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Former bra tycoon Michelle Mone is set to take a leave of absence from the House of Lords with immediate effect, according to reports.

The Scottish peer, who is at the centre of controversy over her alleged links to a firm awarded a PPE contract, will not be sitting in the upper chamber following allegations she benefitted from government covid contracts.

A spokesman for Tory peer Baroness Mone said: "With immediate effect, Baroness Mone will be taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her."

The leave of absence means Lady Mone will not attend sittings of the House, vote on any proceedings and will not be able to claim any allowance.

Mone's statement comes as the Labour Party attempts to try to force the Government to release records of a £200 million contract awarded to PPE Medpro which the Glasgow-born entrepreneur may have profited from, according to reports.

Lady Mone has previously denied having any relation to the company.

Labour's Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said on the Today Programme on Tuesday that companies like PPE Medpro were recommended during the pandemic by Tory ministers, MPs and peers, and given "fast track" and "preferential treatment".

She described the so-called VIP lane as "a scandal of epic proportions".

She said that the company was awarded a £122 million contract for gowns that "could not be used" and that £700,000 of "taxpayers' money" a day is now being wasted on storing the unusable PPE. The company has denied that the kit was faulty.

Rayner added: "This looks very dodgy - people making huge sums of money on PPE that couldn't be used. It needs to be exposed now. Those documents need to come out and it