A petition calling for Michelle Mone to be expelled from the House of Lords has attracted thousands of signatures. The document has been drawn up in protest at Baroness Mone reportedly being paid £29 million by a PPE company that won a major government contract following her recommendation of the business to ministers.
Millionaire Mone, who was made a life peer by Conservative prime minster David Cameron seven years ago, is believed to have endorsed PPE Medpro's credentials for a place in the "VIP lane" that the Government used to award contracts during the Covid-19 pandemic. An investigation by The Guardian subsequently uncovered documentation that showed millions of PPE Medpro's profits had been transferred into a secret offshore trust for the benefit of Mone and her children.
Mone, who originally hails from the east end of Glasgow, denied the allegations six times before the HSBC evidence was leaked. The petition, now demanding her removal from the House of Lords, reads: "Corruption has no place in politics.
"Conservative peer Michelle Mone is reported to have secretly pocketed £29m of public money during the pandemic for unsafe PPE that couldn’t even be used - all while our NHS heroes were putting their lives on the line - including by wearing DIY PPE to protect themselves and the public during the pandemic. We - the undersigned - are calling on the Lords Conduct Committee to investigate and expel Michelle Mone from the House of Lords and ensure that every penny in profit that she took from the taxpayer is repaid immediately."
By 11pm on Monday night, more than 115,000 people had signed the petition, which also contained a note at the bottom stating: "If Mone used her influence as a Tory peer to pocket millions of pounds for herself, she should not only lose her seat in the Lords, she should have to pay back EVERY PENNY! The committee with the power to expel Mone from the Lords is due to meet in a matter of weeks.
"If we can show them just how angry the public are ahead of that meeting, it’ll be forced onto their radars and they’ll be compelled to act." The current requirements for a life peerage to be removed are that a person has been convicted of a "serious offence" and given a prison sentence of one year or more.
Peers can also be suspended or expelled from the House of Lords for non-attendance or a prison sentence of one year or more. Commenting on Mone's situation, a House of Lords spokesperson said: "The independent House of Lords Commissioner for Standards has already started an investigation into whether Baroness Mone has breached the Code of Conduct.
"However, the rules state that the Commissioner may not finalise or publish any report while the matter is under investigation by the police or another agency as part of a criminal investigation, to avoid prejudicing any trial. Once the criminal process is complete or has ceased, the Commissioner will complete his investigation and publish his report.
"If he finds that there has been a breach, he can recommend a sanction from the list of options set out in the Guide to the Code of Conduct. The most serious sanctions are suspension and expulsion.
"Separately, under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014, a member who is convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to prison for more than one year automatically ceases to be a member of the House."
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