Former Tory peer Michelle Mone’s husband claims the couple have been “hung out to dry” by ministers over the personal protective equipment (PPE) procurement row.
Doug Barrowman said they are being hounded to “distract attention from government incompetence” over how it handled £13.1 billion worth of PPE contracts.
The Scottish entrepreneur led a consortium, PPE Medpro, which agreed contracts worth £202 million with the government following the Covid outbreak nearly four years ago.
He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg last month that had generated a £60 million profit, which is now held in a family trust.
The government is suing PPE Medpro for breach of contract, while the National Crime Agency has also launched an investigation.
Baroness Mone, who was made a Conservative peer by David Cameron in 2015, has said the Cabinet Office, NHS and government ministers “all knew” about her links to PPE Medpro, which she repeatedly denied to journalists.
She is currently taking a “leave of absence” from the House of Lords and no longer takes the Tory whip.
In a lengthy statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) this morning, Barrowman said: “My family and I have been treated as a punchbag by the media for the past 3 years.
“We have received death threats and a constant torrent of online and other abuse. This cannot continue and the British public need to know the facts.”
He said PPE Medpro had only received payment once the government was satisfied with the quality of the masks and gowns they provided.
The Department of Health and Social Care raised a civil claim raised a civil claim two and a half years over the “technical specifications of the gowns”, Barrowman said.
He added: “The stark reality is that DHSC has brought this claim against Medpro at a time of increased scrutiny of how it overspent by so much and when questions were being asked as to why the government was writing off £9 billion of PPE out of the £13.1 billion spent.”
The businessman went on: “Michelle and I are being hung out to dry to distract attention from government incompetence in how it handled PPE procurement at a time of national emergency.”
Commenting on the row last month, Rishi Sunak said: “We take all of these things incredibly seriously and that’s why the government is taking legal action.
“And because there’s a criminal investigation ongoing I can’t comment any further.”