Covid seems to have been profitable for some

Surely their assets should be frozen?

Just reading that the NHS is on the verge of collapse.

If this is true, then I think there has to be a countrywide reaction.

growstuff

BTW I think it was Hancock not Hunt.

That’s right. Senior moment.

Let’s be blunt, the names are more or less interchangeable, they’re all as bad as each other.

BTW I think it was Hancock not Hunt.

Gordon Brown is right when he says that this government is the most corrupt for at least a century.

growstuff

However, if Gove and Hunt are indeed complicit, she'll be allowed to slip away.

That is what is being suggested will happen.

It is bloody disgusting

However, if Gove and Hunt are indeed complicit, she'll be allowed to slip away.

It means that she won't have to declare her financial interests as a member of the HoL. She's in the process of selling her UK assets, so looks as though she's going to leave the country. Frankly, she needs to be arrested at the airport.

I see Hunt and Gove are saying that Mone bullied them, which suggests to me that they are complicit in the fraud.

They are trying to get their ducks in a row.

Not that they need to - no one ever answers in this wretched government😡

It means she will not attend sittings of the House, vote on any proceedings or be able to claim any allowance.

Baroness Mone has been linked to PPE Medpro, which won government contracts during the Covid pandemic.

Her lawyers previously said she "had no role or function in PPE Medpro".

Her spokesman said the leave of absence was "with immediate effect" and was Baroness Mone's decision.

It also means she does not have to register her financial interests, although her request for a leave of absence could be refused.

Baroness Mone has not voted in the Lords since April and has not spoken in a debate since March 2020.

So,
1) She did nothing in the HoL anyway.
2) She's doing it to avoid registering her financial interests.

Perhaps she should take the time to pop down the bank and get our money back!

Michelle Mone to take a leave of absence from HoL.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63871448

I don't think the public would have any faith in this government's ability to run a war, Hetty. Though god forbid it's ever put to the test...

I've googled the interview. It was in the Times. Paywalled, but if anyone can get past it

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i-interviewed-michelle-mone-she-makes-every-grasping-lazy-peer-look-like-an-angel-9rsscbqkv

MaizieD ' The public have short memories and even shorter attention spans.' - yes, unfortunately, they do. I suppose we're due a war next, are we? They seem popular following a recession - and a sure-fire way for a government to remain in power.

Daisymae

HousePlantQueen

We should also be reminding ourselves that Jeremy Hunt was Health Secretary for years, during which Operation Cygnet was run, and then quietly shelved. There is no excuse for a government which has been in power for a long time not to have contingency for emergencies, something as simple as making sure that there was an up to date directory of reputable PPE suppliers. I assume that if we suddenly found ourselves at war, we would have a list of arms manufacturers or would that be left to a Norfolk pub owner or a bra manufacturer to organise it? The first duty of any government, of any political persuasion is to ensure the safety of its citizens, and the Tory administration failed to do so.

Exactly. Which is why the inquiry is so important but also why it's taken so long to get underway. The public have short memories and even shorter attention spans.

I've given up thinking that our current and recent governments have had any sense of their duty to the public. They certainly have evaded scrutiny in every way they possibly can.

Sadly, I can't get your image to open in a readable form, Blossoming Which paper was it in?

HousePlantQueen

We should also be reminding ourselves that Jeremy Hunt was Health Secretary for years, during which Operation Cygnet was run, and then quietly shelved. There is no excuse for a government which has been in power for a long time not to have contingency for emergencies, something as simple as making sure that there was an up to date directory of reputable PPE suppliers. I assume that if we suddenly found ourselves at war, we would have a list of arms manufacturers or would that be left to a Norfolk pub owner or a bra manufacturer to organise it? The first duty of any government, of any political persuasion is to ensure the safety of its citizens, and the Tory administration failed to do so.

Exactly. Which is why the inquiry is so important but also why it's taken so long to get underway. The public have short memories and even shorter attention spans.

She won’t be the only one. I hope Mone and the other people involved in the PPE scandal are made to pay for what they’ve done.

A friend sent me this article by Camilla Long, you will need to open the photo to read. I can’t find an online link.

Is that her and her then fiance, now husband? How could they get away with doing that and then her denying point blank that she had any connection with the company and didn't get any financial benefit?

Probably the same way that Johnson lied his head off about parties/drinks/breaking lockdown and nothing has been done about it (yet). I understand that Rees-Mogg has defended her too.

Apparently she applied for a contract and then set up the first company. They then set up other companies, each would have their own bank accounts and bounced the money through them.

Is that her and her then fiance, now husband? How could they get away with doing that and then her denying point blank that she had any connection with the company and didn't get any financial benefit?

MaizieD

^As fir Mrs Mone, and her £29 million, her husband is reported to have been paid £65 million, so a grand total between them of £100 million.^

Not quite right, silverlining.

Mone's (now) husband was paid £65million. £29 million of which found itself into Mone's offshore account...

The company she got through the VIP lane had only just been set up and had no experience at all in the provision of PPE. Many long standing providers of PPE to the NHS were ignored...

Apparently she applied for a contract and then set up the first company. They then set up other companies, each would have their own bank accounts and bounced the money through them.

ByLine Times article on the Mone affair, with embedded links to other suspect contracts and information.

For anyone who's interested.

bylinetimes.com/2022/11/25/what-happened-ppe-procurement-covid-pandemic-uk/

Maisie Thank you, I must have misheard, however 65 million is still massive.

If it was all above board, why has she lied and tried to cover up?

Whitewavemark2

I read that when she first applied for fast track the company was not yet in existence.

Yet she had no connection with it 😇

What a coincidence...

I read that when she first applied for fast track the company was not yet in existence.