Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband have accused the Covid-19 inquiry of being an “establishment cover-up” after their second bid to be made “core participants” in the probe was rejected.
The couple claimed they were subjected to a “politically motivated witch hunt” after the inquiry’s chairwoman denied their application, which she said had been made “significantly out of time”.
Their first bid for special access, which came 468 days after the deadline of November 17 2023, was rejected at the end of February.
Their second attempt also failed, with chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett warning allowing the application to continue would “lead to further diversion and cause significant disruption to the timetable” of hearings.
Former Tory peer Lady Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman have faced scrutiny about the “VIP-lane” contracts granted to some suppliers of PPE during the coronavirus pandemic.
PPE Medpro, a consortium led by Mr Barrowman, was awarded government contracts worth more than £200 million to supply equipment, after Lady Mone recommended it to ministers.
Chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett arrives at a UK Covid-19 Inquiry hearing at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) (Jane Barlow/PA)
Hearings related to the firm will take place in private after Lady Hallett said she was satisfied there was a risk of prejudice to potential criminal proceedings if “sensitive” evidence was heard in public.
In a statement on Thursday, the pair insisted that the inquiry decision to hold “closed-door sessions” was “a blatant betrayal of transparency and justice”.
They said they had been “silenced,” adding: “While the inquiry refused to exclude PPE Medpro, it handed the NCA the power to dictate the proceedings behind a wall of secrecy, ensuring that only their version of events is heard—while we are denied the right to defend ourselves.”
They claimed the National Crime Agency (NCA) had “waged a ruthless campaign to destroy us” and “actively tried to block PPE Medpro from being discussed in the inquiry”.
The NCA launched an investigation into the firm in May 2021 over suspected criminal offences committed in the procurement process.
In a submission, the agency had said there was a “realistic possibility that criminal charges against one or more individuals will flow from the investigation”.
The NCA said the restrictions should include the identity of any person under investigation and evidence relating to the opinion of government officials concerning the company’s contracts.
The agency also called for restrictions to cover evidence of payments to the firm and who potentially benefited from them.
The couple had sought to be considered “core participants” as the inquiry turns its attention to PPE suppliers and procurement during the pandemic.
The special status would have granted the Tory peer, 52, and Mr Barrowman, 59, access to documents, the ability to suggest questions via their lawyers, and get advance notice of the inquiry’s report.
Lady Mone and Mr Barrowman claimed in their renewed application that they are “the most high-profile corporate and natural persons to be associated with alleged PPE procurement fraud, and the only ones (along with their direct associates) to be both sued and/or criminally investigated by the state in respect of PPE supplies at the height of the pandemic”, according to the decision published by the inquiry.
Lady Hallett said they had acknowledged they were aware of the inquiry and there would be a module on PPE, but had not applied for core participant status during the window of time available to them.
Lady Mone and her husband stated the inquiry chairwoman should have brought the probe’s “interest in PPE Medpro to their attention so that they could consider whether they wanted to apply for core participant status”.
But Lady Hallett insisted it was not necessary for her to contact individual companies, adding: “The inquiry conducts its work in public and rightly expects those with a potential interest in it to follow the information which it posts on its website, which is available to all.”
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry and the NCA have been contacted for comment.