THE SNP have urged the "corrupt" Tory party to cough up £170,000 of donations made to them by Michelle Mone’s husband.
At least £171,480 was donated before Baroness Mone, 51, and her husband Doug Barrowman, allegedly benefited from a multimillion-pound Covid PPE deal.
The couple have been accused of lobbying Westminster during the pandemic resulting in a firm linked to them – PPE Medpro - receiving more than £200 million of taxpayer-funded Covid contracts via the UK Government's "VIP lane".
The donation was made through UK-registered business Lancaster Knox LLP, part of Barrowman’s Isle of Man-based Knox Group.
Brendan O’Hara, the SNP Cabinet Office spokesperson, has now called on the party to return the “highly questionable” donations “immediately”.
He said: "It may be a new year but it is the same old cronyism, sleaze and corruption from the Tory party.
"The more details that emerge about the Tory government's dodgy approach in handling multi-billion-pound Covid contracts, the more corrupt it appears.
"And we know the Tory party has a dodgy track record when it comes to donations coming into their party - to the extent where they have previously refused to rule out receiving money linked to criminal activity.
"While we wait for the answers the people deserve, the Tories must immediately confirm they are going to return the £170,000 the party received in donations from Baroness Michelle Mone’s husband.
"Returning this highly questionable money is beyond question the only course of action to take if the Tories want to cling on to any shred of integrity they have left."
The Electoral Commission records show donations from May 2017 to June 2019. They revealed three cash sums of £50,000 as well as auction prizes worth more than £17,000.
A spokesman for Barrowman confirmed the donations were made and “vetted and approved in an open manner”.
Sources told the Mirror on Monday there was no link between the donations and the awarding of £200m in PPE deals to PPE Medpro.
Documents that were leaked in November allegedly show that £65m was paid to a trust benefiting Barrowman in September 2020.
They also suggested that an offshore trust linked to Mone received £29m, which seemingly originated as profits.
Mone is currently on leave from the House of Lords while the National Crime Agency probes the PPE Medpro deal.
Her lawyer has said that “she did not benefit financially and was not connected to PPE Medpro”.
