Michelle Mone: My Side of the Story

Tory peer and island resident Michelle Mone has said that she and husband Doug Barrowman have ‘done nothing wrong’.

Baroness Mone has recorded an interview with investigative journalist Mark Williams-Thomas which was released at 9am this morning.

In her first public comments since a criminal probe into PPE deals worth £200m was launched, Broness Mone said the couple have ‘done nothing wrong’  and that she is ‘ashamed of being a Conservative peer given what this government has done to us’.

The lingerie tycoon and Mr Barrowman are being investigated by the National Crime Agency as part of a fraud probe into the firm PPE Medpro. It won a £122 million contract for 25 million surgical gowns and a £80.85m contract for 210 million face masks during the pandemic.

However, the gowns were never used and the UK’s DHSC claims they were not fit for purpose and is suing the company in the High Court for breach of contract.

In the documentary, which has been funded by PPE Medro, Baroness Mone denied any wrongdoing and said ‘we will win because we have done nothing wrong’.

She added: ‘I think everyone feels that because we have been silent that we are guilty. The whole thing has been so scary, but you just don’t know what to do. Doug and I look at one another. We think, “No, today we are going to come out and we are going to respond to them and respond to that message that they said”, you know, “put her in jail, orange jumpsuits, and we’re going to throw acid over her” and everything else.’

Baroness Mone has also accepted that it was a mistake to deny any involvement in PPE Medro, telling the documentary ‘I regret not saying to the press straight away, “Yes, I am involved” and the government knew I was involved’

The documentary also makes the claim that a UK DHSC official offered to help make the case go away if the couple paid a substantial sum to the government.