SHOW US THE MONEY

PPE SCANDAL: BILL FOR ‘USELESS GOWNS' NEARS £150M

- BY LIZZY BUCHAN and NICK SOMMERLAD

A FIRM linked to bra tycoon Baroness Michelle Mone is in the red by £145million after it missed a court deadline over defective Covid gowns.

Medpro PPE was ordered to pay up by 4pm yesterday after it lost a High Court battle over a Covid contract worth £122million.

With interest, the bill is now £145.6million and rising.

UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: "At a time of national crisis, PPE Medpro sold the previous government substandard kit and pocketed taxpayers' cash.

"PPE Medpro has failed to meet the deadline to pay, with interest now accruing daily.

"We will pursue PPE Medpro with everything we've got to get these funds back where they belong - in our NHS."

PPE Medpro was set up by a consortium led by Mone's husband, Doug Barrowman.

Links were revealed between the firm and Baroness Mone, who referred the company to ministers through the controversial Covid VIP lane in 2020.

She denied any involvement in the firm but it later emerged she and her husband had benefited from £65million in profits from it.

In 2023, they admitted lying to the media about their involvement.