Paper trail Vote to force release of files, but advice may be redacted

Ministers will have to release papers, advice and correspondence ing to the award of contracts to PPE Medpro, a company recommended by the Conservative peer Michelle Mone, who subsequently appeared to receive millions originating from its profits.

- Rowena Mason

Labour forced the move through a "humble address" in parliament yesterday, which asked for the government to hand over documents involving ministers and special advisers relating to PPE Medpro to parliament's public accounts committee.

The government did not oppose the motion, meaning it will have to release some information, but Will Quince, a health minister, signalled it was likely to be delayed and redacted.

The Guardian revealed last month that legal documents indicate Mone and her children secretly received £29m, originating from the profits of the PPE business that was awarded large government contracts after she recommended it to ministers.

Mone is said to have lobbied Michael Gove and Lord Agnew at the start of the pandemic in 2020 to secure business for PPE Medpro. She has previously denied having any relationship to the company.

Mone has already been placed under investigation by the House of Lords commissioner for standards.

Separately, PPE Medpro has become the subject of a potential fraud investigation by the National Crime Agency. In April this year, NCA officers searched several addresses, including the mansion Mone and her Doug Barrowman, husband, occupy in the Isle of Man. At the time, lawyers for PPE Medpro declined to comment on the NCA investigation.