David Cameron 'lost the plot' by making PPE scandal tycoon Michelle Mone a Tory peer
David Cameron had 'lost the plot' when he made PPE scandal tycoon Michelle Mone a Tory Peer, an ex-business associate has claimed. The former Tory prime minister was behind the decision to elevate Glasgow-born Mone to the House of Lords in 2015.
Mone, 53, and her husband Doug Barrowman, 60, are being probed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) over a £203million deal to supply NHS equipment in the pandemic and the former Ultimo bra boss is on a leave of absence. In two-part BBC show The Rise and Fall of Michelle Mone – on BBC iPlayer from tomorrow – ex-colleagues criticise the peerage decision.
It also looks at Mone's Ultimo lingerie firm MJM International's accounts in the years before her appointment revealing by 2012 it had a loss of about £500,000. Speaking to filmmakers, PR consultant Jack Irvine, who worked with Mone in the 90s, recalled receiving a phone call from a top Tory to tell him about the proposed peerage.
Irvine said: 'I honestly burst out laughing.'
He added: 'I went through the history, the fantasy world, the money they'd lost and all the things she'd done and I said, 'Anyway, who's pushing this?'
"He said David Cameron and George Osborne. I remember thinking at the time, Cameron and Osborne have completely lost the plot.'
Scots businessman Douglas Anderson, boss of the Glasgow -based Gap Group, wrote to Cameron at the time to protest the appointment.
He told the programme: 'I'm a proud Scottish person and I don't like anybody, but especially don't like Scottish people, being less than truthful.
'If the only thing she achieved was self-publicity, I don't think that's a very good reason to put you into the House of Lords.'
Mone is alleged to have taken advantage of her peer status to use a 'VIP fast lane' to recommend PPE Medpro – led by Barrowman – supply medical equipment to the government.
She denied any involvement in the firm for three years before admitting in 2023 she had lied. Barrowman admitted making £65million from equipment deals, with £29million transferred to a trust in the name of Mone and her kids.
The firm is being sued by the Government for £122million for breach of contract. The couple, who live on the Isle of Man, have had £75million of assets seized, including properties in Glasgow. They deny any wrongdoing.
In a statement to the BBC, the pair's spokesperson said they had 'provided full and detailed statements to the NCA and co-operated with the investigation throughout. They have never been arrested and no charges [have] been brought against them'.
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Mone said she was 'deeply disappointed' a show was being broadcast 'which appears to be relying on misleading and one-sided accounts of my life and career'.
She added: 'Without having seen the programme or the allegations in their full context, it would not be fair to respond to them individually.
"The allegations relating to my husband's company, PPE Medpro, will be defended in court.' Cameron and Barrowman were asked for comment.
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