THE SNP have called for Michelle Mone to be removed from the House of Lords after a PPE firm linked to the Tory peer was ordered to repay the UK Government almost £122 million.
On Wednesday, the High Court ruled that PPE MedPro – a company led by Mone’s husband Doug Barrowman – must repay the money it was awarded in government contracts from the Conservatives after it supplied 25 million “faulty” gowns to the NHS during the pandemic.
Both Mone and her husband denied wrongdoing in previous trials, but on Wednesday the couple were ordered to reimburse the UK Government by 4pm on October 15.
Pete Wishart, the SNP’s Deputy Leader in Westminster, has called for Mone to be stripped of her peerage following the ruling.
“We now have a ruling on the Michelle Mone PPE scandal and now is the time for the Labour Government to act – they must strip Ms Mone of her peerage,” Wishart said.
“The Lords is expensive enough - Michelle Mone cannot continue to have access to unfettered expenses at great cost to the public."
At present, Mone is entitled to claim a range of expenses at cost to the public due to her status in the House of Lords, which cost over £143m in 2023-24.
Peerages can only be removed by an act of parliament, meaning the current Labour Government has it in its remit to strip Mone of her title given its substantial majority.
Wishart added: “The Labour Party has repeatedly broken its promise to abolish the House of Lords for more than a century and this latest scandal demonstrates exactly why this archaic institution that sponsors cronyism and elitism should have gone long ago.
“Peerages can only be removed by an act of parliament – and it’s time for the Labour Government to take action.”
Patrick Harvie, Scottish Greens MSP for Glasgow, echoed Wishart's comments, saying: "Michelle Mone is a glaring symbol of everything that is wrong with the House of Lords and why it must finally be scrapped.
“How can anybody with any concern for democracy justify a situation where someone as discredited as Mone can have a lifelong role as a legislator without a single person ever voting for her?
“Is it an antiquated relic of an institution that entrenches power with a small and wealthy group that she embodies.
“Even by the standards of the Lords, this saga has been totally shameful.
“It’s clear that Michelle Mone should resign, but the problem isn’t about her individual choices, it is about the system that put her in such a powerful and unaccountable position in the first place.”
