PPE from firm linked to Tory peer 'not safe for patients'

Personal protective equipment supplied by a company linked to the Conservative peer Michelle Mone did not meet required safety standards and "could seriously harm or kill patients" if used, the government has argued in court.

- David Conn

Opening a high court trial for the Department of Health and Social Care, Paul Stanley KC said the company, PPE Medpro, had not complied with technical manufacturing processes to ensure that the 25m surgical gowns it provided were sterile.

The DHSC is seeking repayment of the full £122m it paid for the gowns to PPE Medpro, which Mone first recommended to ministers during the Covid pandemic in May 2020.

PPE Medpro is defending the claim, arguing that the gowns were manufactured in China to the necessary standard of sterility, and that the DHSC agreed to the process before it awarded the contract.