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Susanna Reid demolishes Michelle Mone’s PPE defence

Susanna Reid has torn apart Michelle Mone’s defence after the Tory peer embarked on a reputation-saving PR mission.

The Conservative peer and Ultimo bra tycoon faced questions over the controversy surrounding “VIP lane” contracts during the coronavirus pandemic when she appeared on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme on Sunday.

It comes after she conceded she made an “error” in publicly denying her links to the firm, which is being investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

PPE Medpro was awarded Government contracts worth more than £200 million to supply personal protective equipment after she recommended it to ministers.

She admitted she is a beneficiary of her husband Doug Barrowman’s financial trusts, which hold around £60m of profit from the deal but said the couple have been made “scapegoats” for the government’s wider failings over PPE.

Discussing the matter, Susanna Reid said: “She thinks she’s the victim because of the press intrusion.

“It’s utterly remarkable that she doesn’t see how sensitive this issue is. PPE was so desperately needed that business people thought they could make millions out of that desperation”

Watch the clip in full below:

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Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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