SNP demands Tories return donations from Michelle Mone's husband Doug Barrowman

02.01.2023 - 20:21 / dailyrecord.co.uk

The SNP has called on the Conservatives to return £170,000 of donations made by Michelle Mone’s husband.

The money was given to the party before a company linked to Doug Barrowman and the Tory peer landed a £203 million UK Government contract.

The donations were made through a UK-registered firm, Lancaster Knox LLP, which is part of Barrowman's Knox Group.

Records from the Electoral Commission show donations from May 2017 to June 2019. These include three cash sums of £50,000 and auction prizes totalling more than £17,000.

Brendan O'Hara, the SNP's Cabinet Office spokesman, today accused the Conservative Party of "cronyism" and "corruption".

He said: "It may be a New Year but it is the same old cronyism, sleaze and corruption from the Tory party. "The more details that emerge about the Tory government's dodgy approach in handling multi-billion-pound Covid contracts, the more corrupt it appears. "And we know that the Tory party has a dodgy track record when it comes to donations coming into their party - to the extent where they have previously refused to rule out receiving money linked to criminal activity. "While we wait for the answers the people deserve, the Tories must immediately confirm they are going to return the £170,000 the party received in donations from Baroness Michelle Mone’s husband. "Returning this highly questionable money is beyond question the only course of action to take if the Tories want to cling on to any shred of integrity they have left."

Mone and her husband have been accused of lobbying Westminster during the pandemic. This allegedly resulted in a firm which was linked to the couple receiving over £200million of taxpayer-funded Covid contracts.

The Mirror reportedthat leaked HSBC