Michelle Mone husband: We're a scapegoat for PPE failures

Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman

The husband of Baroness Michelle Mone says he and his wife are being "hung out to dry" to distract from government "incompetence" on procuring personal protective equipment in the pandemic.

Writing on X, Doug Barrowman said it "suits the agenda" of ministers to "scapegoat" him and his wife.

His company was awarded contracts worth more than £200m to supply PPE to the NHS through a so-called VIP lane.

PPE Medpro is now being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The company, which made profits of around £60m on the deals, is also being sued by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) for £122m plus costs for "breach of contract and unjust enrichment".

Millions of gowns the company supplied to the NHS were never used but the couple say these were supplied in accordance with the contract, and PPE Medpro has said it will "rigorously" defend the claim.

Last month, the couple admitting lying about their involvement with PPE Medpro, having denied any involvement in the PPE deal for more than three years.

In a statement on X on Monday, formerly Twitter, Mr Barrowman said his family were being "treated as a punchbag" for the "lamentable failures" by ministers when procuring PPE and said they had received death threats and online abuse.

He looked to lay the blame at the door of the DHSC and called for its top civil servant, Sir Chris Wormald, to resign, saying no-one had been held accountable for purchasing five years of PPE when the government was only supposed to have four months of stock.

He said it was "simply unacceptable" that the UK Covid inquiry was not scheduled to review pandemic PPE procurement until 2025 - after the next general election is due to be held.

Mr Barrowman also repeated the claim that ministers were "using the arm of the NCA to threaten criminal proceedings unless we settle" the civil case.

He went on to say the DHSC's claim had been made at a time of "increased scrutiny" on the government's spending on PPE procurement.

A DHSC spokesman said: "We do not comment on ongoing legal cases."

The statement is the latest in a series of attempts by the couple to defend their conduct, which included an interview with the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme last month - in which Baroness Mone admitted she stands to benefit from the more than £60m profit made from the PPE Medpro contracts.

Baroness Mone, a Scottish lingerie tycoon, is currently on a leave of absence from Parliament, which she said was to "clear her name", and is being investigated by the House of Lords for not declaring her interest in PPE Medpro.

The government has faced questions about what it knew about her relationship with the company, with Baroness Mone telling Kuenssberg she had contacted the then Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove to offer help at the start of the pandemic.

Following that interview, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government took the issue "incredibly seriously".