Michelle Mone Back Under Spotlight as Covid Inquiry Condemns VIP Lane Over £10bn PPE Waste

Michelle Mone has been thrust back into the political spotlight after the Covid inquiry concluded that the Conservative government's 'VIP lane' for pandemic contracts contributed to almost £10 billion of wasted PPE spending, with the fast-track system awarding £203 million of deals to PPE Medpro, a company linked to the Tory peer.

Inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett found that the high-priority route 'embedded unfairness' in how public money was handed out. Her report, published in London on Tuesday as part of module five of the Covid-19 inquiry, examined how Boris Johnson's government bought personal protective equipment between 2020 and 2022.

Hallett concluded that of about £14.9 billion spent on PPE, nearly two-thirds, 'almost £10bn', was wasted, largely through overbuying and substandard equipment.

She said the UK entered the pandemic with a 'perilous' stockpile and 'inadequate and untested plans' for emergency procurement, leaving frontline staff without reliable protection when the virus first hit.

VIP Lane And PPE Medpro At Centre Of Inquiry Criticism

The so‑called high-priority or 'VIP lane' gave accelerated consideration to companies referred by ministers, MPs and peers.

Hallett wrote that it was a 'misguided attempt' to prioritise credible offers and concluded that 'some suppliers received favourable treatment because they had connections to government, undermining public trust at a moment when it was needed most'. Her report records that £4.2 billion of PPE spending went through that route.

PPE Medpro, the most high-profile of those cases, was awarded two government contracts worth £203 million after Mone approached Michael Gove, then Cabinet Office minister, in May 2020.

Hallett says she has reached conclusions on PPE Medpro specifically, but those findings are being withheld while the National Crime Agency continues its investigation into the contracts and will only be published after any criminal proceedings conclude.

Political Defence Of VIP Lane Under Strain

Matt Hancock and other former ministers have insisted to the inquiry that the system allowed officials to 'prioritise credible offers' at speed.

Former Cabinet Office minister Theodore Agnew went further, telling Hallett it was 'bollocks' to suggest the lane was 'some kind of plan by rightwing people trying to enrich themselves'.

Hallett stopped short of accusing ministers of corruption, stating the inquiry 'has not identified cronyism or corruption on the part of ministers and officials in final contracting decisions'.

Yet she concluded the high-priority route itself was a mistake, writing that it 'should not have been established and must not be repeated' because 'the system was inherently biased towards those with connections to the UK government' and 'heightened the risk of abuse'.

Bereaved Families Link PPE Failures To Lost Lives

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, representing about 7,000 people, argued through their lawyer Pete Weatherby KC that there must be scrutiny of whether 'cronyism, unfair advantage and corruption allowed chancers to make fabulous profits at the expense of all of us, the bereaved, the key workers'.

Naomi Fulop, from the same group, called the VIP lane 'a deliberate and shameful choice' and demanded the government 'recover every pound possible and prevent political connections from ever again securing privileged access to public contracts'.

Hallett found that, as the pandemic worsened, 'many doctors, nurses and care sector staff worked without adequate PPE or sufficient healthcare equipment such as ventilators', leaving them and those they cared for exposed to infection.

CBFFJ members told the inquiry they believe poor PPE supply contributed to loved ones catching Covid and dying.

Government Response Measured As Johnson Stands By Record

A Downing Street spokesperson said the report 'makes for sobering reading' and that ministers are 'grateful to Baroness Hallett and her team for their thorough and important work', adding that governments would 'carefully consider the inquiry's recommendations in detail' over the next six months.

Boris Johnson, by contrast, told reporters in Shoreditch he had 'not read' the latest findings and insisted the UK's response was 'outstanding', arguing he did not need an inquiry to confirm that view. His stance sits alongside Hallett's finding of 'almost £10bn' in wasted PPE spending and a VIP system now formally condemned in the report as unfair.