Starmer pledges to back Michelle Mone’s Covid contract millions

Published: 21 October 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to recover more than £100 million of taxpayers’ money from PPE Medpro, a company linked to Baroness Michelle Mone, following one of the most controversial Covid-era contract scandals. His pledge comes after a High Court ruling found that the firm had failed to meet required safety standards on millions of medical gowns supplied to the NHS during the pandemic.

Standing outside Downing Street, Starmer made his government’s position clear. “We’ve been really clear about getting our money back, whether it’s Michelle Mone or anybody else,” he said. “We intend to get as much of our money back as possible, because that is taxpayers’ money, and we want it back. We’ll go after every penny of it.” The Prime Minister added that his administration “will not give up” on recovering public funds, even as the company at the centre of the scandal has gone into administration.

The case centres on PPE Medpro, a company established during the early weeks of the pandemic. It was awarded contracts worth nearly £200 million after being fast-tracked through the so-called “VIP lane” — a system that allowed firms with political or ministerial connections to be prioritised for lucrative government deals. PPE Medpro supplied the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) with 25 million surgical gowns in 2020. However, a subsequent investigation found the gowns failed to meet sterilisation standards and were ultimately unusable.

In a judgment handed down last month, the High Court ruled that PPE Medpro had failed to prove adequate quality control and sterilisation processes. The company was ordered to repay £122 million to the DHSC, plus £23.6 million in interest, totalling £145.6 million. The DHSC has since confirmed that the debt will continue to accrue interest at an annual rate of 8 per cent until it is fully repaid.

Despite the ruling, the company missed a key repayment deadline last week, prompting renewed anger from ministers and the public alike. PPE Medpro entered administration on September 30 — just one day before the judgment was issued — in a move some critics have described as a calculated effort to shield assets from recovery. The company’s directors have denied this claim, arguing that the collapse was the result of “unsustainable financial pressure” brought about by the legal battle and the freezing of key accounts.

Baroness Mone, who was made a Conservative life peer in 2015 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, has denied any wrongdoing. She has consistently maintained that she played no formal role in PPE Medpro’s operations, despite evidence showing that she personally referred the company to the government’s high-priority procurement lane. Her husband, businessman Doug Barrowman, is understood to have led the consortium that owns the firm. Both have accused the government and media of engaging in what Mone has called an “establishment stitch-up,” insisting that the products were not faulty when supplied and only became defective while stored in government facilities.

Nonetheless, the revelations have intensified public anger over the VIP lane system, which critics say epitomised the cronyism and mismanagement of the pandemic response. Dozens of companies linked to Conservative donors, peers, and MPs were fast-tracked for government contracts, many of which later proved to be ineffective or overpriced. Starmer’s administration has made it clear that recovering misused public funds and reforming procurement standards will be a central priority of its early months in office.

Speaking to reporters, Starmer underscored the moral dimension of the case. “It’s about fairness and responsibility,” he said. “People made enormous sacrifices during the pandemic, and they deserve to know that every pound of their money was spent properly. We will not allow people to profit from public suffering.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has echoed the Prime Minister’s stance, confirming that the Treasury is working closely with the DHSC and insolvency authorities to recover funds where possible. “Our message is simple: if you took public money unlawfully or failed to deliver on your contract, we will come for it,” Reeves said. Legal experts note that while the administration of PPE Medpro complicates immediate recovery, it does not necessarily prevent the government from pursuing funds through asset tracing or personal liability claims.

Baroness Mone has faced mounting calls from across parties for her peerage to be stripped in light of the scandal. Labour, Liberal Democrat, and SNP MPs have all urged the government to take action, arguing that her position in the House of Lords has become untenable. However, constitutional experts caution that removing a peerage is a complex and rare process that requires an act of Parliament. A senior Labour source confirmed that while discussions are ongoing, “the immediate focus is on reclaiming taxpayer money, not symbolic punishment.”

Public anger over the PPE Medpro case reflects broader frustration at the waste and lack of accountability surrounding pandemic-era contracts. According to the National Audit Office, the UK government spent more than £12 billion on PPE between 2020 and 2022, much of it awarded through emergency procurement procedures with minimal oversight. Tens of millions of items purchased during that period were later found to be unusable or substandard, leaving vast amounts of equipment languishing in warehouses at a cost of millions in storage fees.

Critics argue that the scandal has exposed the need for sweeping reform of government procurement. Dr Helena Lewis, a public policy analyst at King’s College London, said: “The VIP lane wasn’t just a procedural shortcut — it was a moral failure. It undermined public trust and created opportunities for profiteering at a time of national crisis. Starmer’s challenge is to prove that accountability doesn’t end with words.”

Meanwhile, the DHSC continues to face questions about why such contracts were approved in the first place and whether sufficient due diligence was conducted. Former officials have privately admitted that the rush to secure supplies during the early days of the pandemic led to “corners being cut,” though they insist that all contracts were made “in good faith” under exceptional circumstances.

For Baroness Mone and her husband, the legal and reputational fallout continues to grow. Investigators are said to be examining the couple’s financial arrangements and offshore holdings, though no criminal charges have yet been filed. Mone, who took a leave of absence from the Lords in late 2022, remains largely out of public view, issuing statements only through her representatives.

As Starmer’s government ramps up efforts to reclaim lost public funds, the PPE Medpro saga stands as a defining test of its commitment to transparency and fiscal integrity. It is also a cautionary tale of how political influence, profit, and public crisis can combine to devastating effect. For many, the Prime Minister’s vow to “go after every penny” has become a rallying cry for a new era of accountability in British politics — one in which those who profited from public misfortune will finally be held to account.