David Cameron has said he nominated Michelle Mone for a ladyship as she was a “proud Scot, proud Brit and a proud Conservative”.
He was asked by STV News if he took any responsibility for Mone being able to refer her husband’s company to supply pandemic PPE to the government in the so-called “VIP lane” after nominating her for a peerage.
The former PM, who has made a surprise return to frontline politics as foreign secretary, responded: “Well obviously Michelle Mone is responsible for what she does.
“Yes, I did nominate her for a peerage because at the time from what I could see she was a successful businesswoman and entrepreneur, a proud Scot, a proud Brit, and a proud Conservative.”
It comes as Mone and her husband have had £75m of assets frozen by court order, including nine properties in Glasgow.
The former Tory peer and Doug Barrowman are facing an investigation by the National Crime Agency over alleged criminal offences in the procurement of PPE contracts during the Covid pandemic.
PPE Medpro, a company owned by Barrowman, is being probed after it was awarded more than £200m in contracts to supply PPE to the NHS after Mone recommended it through the UK Government’s “VIP lane” in 2020.
The firm is also being sued by the UK’s Department for Health and Social Care.
According to the Financial Times, the asset freeze, obtained by the Crown Prosecution Service, includes properties in Glasgow – where Mone is from – as well as a townhouse in London, an estate on the Isle of Man and several elite bank accounts.
A spokesman for the couple previously said: “This comes as a result of a consensual process during which negotiations took place with the CPS.
“It allows the wider businesses and assets of the Barrowman family to operate normally and free from any restrictions or uncertainties.
“Doug and Michelle did not contest the application and were happy to offer up these assets, which means they can begin the task of proving their innocence more quickly.
“Mr Barrowman finds it deplorable that private matters such as this are being conducted in the public realm via leaks from government departments and the CPS.”
In December, the baroness admitted she did not tell the truth about her links to Medpro but insisted that she and her husband have “no case to answer”.
Mone insisted that lying to the media is “not a crime”.
She conceded she made an “error” in publicly denying her links to the firm.
The Ultimo bra tycoon admitted she is a beneficiary of her husband’s financial trusts, which hold around £60m of profit from the deal, but said the couple have been made “scapegoats” for the Government’s wider failings over PPE.
Lady Mone has repeatedly denied that she profited from the deal, which she first discussed with government ministers including Michael Gove.
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