Revealed Conservative peer Michelle Mone secretly received £29m from 'VIP lane' PPE firm

Couple insisted they had 'no involvement' in firm and 'no role' in how it was awarded contracts

- David Conn

The Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her children secretly received £29m originating from the profits of a PPE business that was awarded large government contracts after she recommended it to ministers, documents seen by the Guardian indicate.

Lady Mone's support helped the company, PPE Medpro, secure a place in a "VIP lane" the government used during the Covid pandemic to prioritise firms that had political connections. It then secured contracts worth more than £200m.

Documents seen by the Guardian indicate that tens of millions of pounds of PPE Medpro's profits were later transferred to a secret offshore trust of which Mone and her adult children were the beneficiaries.

Asked by the Guardian last year why the peer did not include PPE Medpro in the House of Lords register of financial interests, her lawyer replied: "Baroness Mone did not declare any interest as she did not benefit financially and was not connected to PPE Medpro in any capacity."

The leaked documents, which were produced by HSBC, appear to contradict that statement. They state that Mone's husband, the Isle of Manbased financier Douglas Barrowman, was paid at least £65m in profits from PPE Medpro, and then distributed the funds through a series of offshore accounts, trusts and companies.

The ultimate recipients of the funds, the documents indicate, include the Isle of Man trust that was set up to benefit Mone, who was Barrowman's fiancee at the time, and her children.

In October 2020, the documents add, Barrowman transferred to the trust £28.8m originating from PPE Medpro profits. That was just five months after Mone helped PPE Medpro secure contracts to supply masks and sterile gowns for use in the NHS.