Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has questioned the Government about why it hasn’t released information about contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds that were awarded to the PPE supplier Medpro during the pandemic.
Rayner told MPs it’s been reported police have raided Medpro and also the home of the Conservative peer, Baroness Michelle Mone – who she said was linked to the company.
“There are serious questions Mr Speaker about the due diligence which was performed on this company so can the leader of the house let us know what evidence they hold and why they are refusing to give a single sheet of it out into the public domain,” Rayner said.
“What have you got to hide?”
Leader of the House of Commons, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, responded: “I was going to point out to the right honourable lady that businesses questions follows in due course and it will be her opportunity to raise these things with the leader then.”
Rayner said: “Well that was a way of deflecting from the actual serious question, Mr Speaker, that they are not willing to answer because they know there is suspicion about the way in which they handled those contracts.”
Two contracts were awarded to PPE Medpro by the UK Government with a total value of £202m.
In January, the House of Lords launched an investigation into Baroness Mone’s “alleged involvement in procuring contracts for PPE Medpro” leading to potential breaches of the chamber’s Code of Conduct.
A spokesperson for Baroness Mone said she had no comment.
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