Latest news with #TheRiseandFall
Daily Record
25-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
David Cameron 'lost the plot' by making PPE scandal tycoon Michelle Mone a Tory peer
The ex-Tory PM's decision to elevate Glasgow-born entrepreneur Mone to the House of Lords has been examined in a new TV documentary. 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'. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. 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.
Scottish Sun
24-05-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
BBC host can't forget moment Baroness Bra Michelle Mone confessed to being a liar
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BBC host Laura Kuenssberg has revealed the interview that 'sticks' with her the most is when Michelle Mone confessed to being a liar. Scots bra tycoon Mone spent two years fiercely denying through an army of lawyers any involvement with the firm PPE Medro, which had earned over £200million worth of Government contracts to supply face masks and surgical gowns during the Covid pandemic. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Lady Mone of Mayfair taking her place in the House of Lords as a Tory life peer. 4 Married couple Doug Barrowman and Michelle Mone has been accused of wrongdoing. 4 BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg says her interview with Mone is one that 'sticks" with her. But in 2023 it was revealed that the Tory life peer and her three adult children had received £29million from the company via her second husband Doug Barrowman. That led to a 'Prince Andrew-style' TV showdown with the politics presenter on her weekly show Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Appearing alongside Barrowman, 60, Baroness Mone, 53, made the jaw-dropping confession: 'I can't see what we've done wrong. Lying to the press is not a crime.' Now in a two-part BBC documentary The Rise and Fall of Michelle Mone to be shown next week, Laura, 48, said: 'In the end they were bizarrely quite honest about not having told the truth. Which is quite a strange experience. 'Then as she so memorably said, 'But Laura, it's not a crime to lie' That's a phrase that will always stick with me.' The controversy started when Lady Mone had used her government links to access a VIP Lane for fast track PPE procurement. But the former owner of bra company Ultimo then aggressively denied for three years that she and Barrowman had any connections to the company PPE Medro. When it was revealed that Mone and her family had personally benefitted from the contracts she announced she was stepping down from the House of Lords. Questions were then asked in parliament by the then leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer about how nearly £30million had ended up in the bank account of the Scottish businesswoman. Recalling before the build-up to the car-crash interview, Laura said: 'They obviously knew they had been lying at the beginning of it. So they felt they were in this trap. Carol Vorderman finally reveals real reason she ended friendship with Michelle Mone 'On the day (of the interview) the whole experience was eerily calm. There's no question Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman became the pantomime villains in the story of the huge shambles of what went wrong with PPE. 'For Michelle, being able to grab public attention was always something she had in spades during her business career but things went wrong for her and you can't turn that attention off.' Mone and Barrowman are currently being investigated by the National Crime Agency. The couple continue to deny any wrongdoing. *The Rise and Fall of Michelle Mone begins on BBC Scotland on Monday May 26 at 10pm and BBC Two on May 28 at 9pm. Both episodes are available on BBC iPlayer from Monday.
The Guardian
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sex Pistols' Steve Jones: ‘I like to fart in front of people. You can tell if someone's cool from their reaction'
Is it true you nicked some of your early equipment from David Bowie's trucks outside the Hammersmith Odeon at the last Ziggy Stardust show, in 1973? There's definitely some truth in that. It wasn't outside in trucks though – it was on the stage! They played two nights, and after the first night they left all the gear up, because they were playing there the next night. I knew the Hammersmith Odeon like the back of my hand, I used to bunk in there all the time. I was like the Phantom of Hammersmith Odeon. It was about two in the morning. I stole a little minivan and I got in. There was no one there, other than a guy sitting on the fourth or fifth row, asleep – he was snoring. It was dead silent. I tiptoed across the stage, and I nicked some cymbals, the bass player's [amplifier] head – a Sunn amp it was – and some microphones. I got Bowie's microphone with his lipstick on it! Did you ever fess up to Bowie about this? I kind of did, on a phone call. He knew I'd done it; he thought it was funny. Actually, I don't think I nicked anything off him, I don't think the microphones were his. The only ones I felt bad for were Woody [drummer, Mick Woodmansey] and [bass player] Trevor Bolder. I actually did make amends with Woody. He came on my radio show a few years back, and I thought I'd tell him live, when we were on the air, what I did. I was like, 'I've got to make amends to you, Woody, I nicked some of your cymbals. What can I do to make it right?' He goes, 'I don't know; give us a couple of hundred bucks.' I think I gave him $300, so he was well happy. What album do you always return to? Oh, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust is always a go-to. What's the most chaotic thing that's ever happened to you on stage? There was a time in 1996, when the Sex Pistols played in Milwaukee, a big club which had a ridiculously high stage – it was about 20 foot. Some guy walked on the stage, I don't know how he got through. John [Johnny Rotten, nee John Lydon]'s security Rambo saw him and came running across the stage. He grabbed the guy, the guy hit John, and John fell off the stage, head first. And I thought, that's the end of that. But he got up and carried on! Punters are raving about Frank Carter as the new singer of the Pistols. How does it feel playing these old songs with a new frontman? It's great, it's refreshing. He's younger – well, he's 40. I'll be 70 this year! But he's got bundles of energy, and he's great with an audience. He's not trying to be Johnny Rotten. People love it. My philosophy is, don't play more than an hour and 15, an hour and 30, max. Whenever I go to a concert, I'm not interested in seeing a band for three hours. I guess some artists think the crowd's getting their money's worth, but for me, I'm bored after an hour or so. We often ask people who they would like to play them in a biopic. You've already had one! Did you enjoy Toby Wallace's portrayal of you in Pistol? I love Toby, he's great. He came out [to Los Angeles] and he'd stare at me for a long time, trying to pick up my mannerisms. He had to get someone to help him with his speech, obviously, because he's got the Australian accent. Sometimes he slipped up a little bit, but I thought he did pretty good. The one thing that bugged me was this scene where they go on about my guitar – 'Oh, it's like Excalibur!' – but they couldn't even find one close to mine. The one they used looked like it was from Woolworths. It must have cost a tenner. I would gladly have lent them one of mine. You know a lot of people. Who's the most famous person in your phone? I do know many famous people, but this is a great story. When I was doing Indie 103.1, I ran into Cliff Richard. I said do you want to come on the show, have a larf? And he said OK. He came down, brought his guitars, and I couldn't get him to shut up. He went through all the old classic songs. He's such a pro. They don't make 'em like him any more. Anyway, he left, I had his number, and funnily enough he called me on my landline when we got accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He left a message and he just started singing, 'Congratulations! And jubilations!' It was the funniest thing ever. Besides Cliff, you've hosted everyone from Judas Priest to Brian Wilson on your show. Who was your most chaotic guest? I would say Jerry Lee Lewis. He was really ornery and prickly. I think I said, 'What was it like when you went to England?' And I don't think he actually got to tour in England – he got banned because he was married to his cousin, who was underage. And he just turned on me: 'I don't wanna talk about that!' And there was silence. I didn't know what to do, I started to panic. In the late 80s you played on a Bob Dylan song, Sally Sue Brown. How was Bob in those days? It was bizarre. I met him a couple of weeks prior to him asking me to put a band together out at some party. I had long hair and was on my Harley with no helmet, and he was gravitating towards me. Someone must have told him I was in the Sex Pistols. We hung out for a bit, and I got a call two weeks later, can you put a band together, and we'll do a session down at Sunset Sound [studios]. So, I did. Paul Simonen [ex-the Clash] happened to be in town at that time. I got the drummer from Pat Benatar's band, the keyboard player was playing with Rod Stewart. We ended up on that song, which is a cover. We kind of gelled on that one. What song do you want played at your funeral? That's a funny one. I guess some people who are narcissists would already be thinking of this stuff, right? I'm not as narcissistic as a lot of people I know, but I've learned over many years of being sober that it ain't all about me. I don't know, that's a miserable question. It just tells you you're gonna die one day. Do you have a party trick? I like to fart in front of people. You can tell if someone's cool or not from their reaction. I farted in front of Lisa Marie Presley once. She was sitting outside Starbucks and I was going in, and I just let one rip. She had this look on her face of disgust. I just carried on walking into Starbucks. Is that bad? The Sex Pistols are touring Australia 5 -11 April; see here for dates.
