Cameron breached process in appointing Michelle Mone, says Tory grandee

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A former Scotland secretary has accused David Cameron of breaching “proper process” when he gave Michelle Mone a peerage in 2015, the Guardian has reported.

David Mundell, the Conservative MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, mentioned Lord Cameron gave Baronness Mone a place in the House of Lords with out Street consulting the federal government’s Scotland Office, which is normal apply earlier than awarding peerages to Scots.

Mr Mundell, who was the secretary of state for Scotland from 2015 to 2019, mentioned there was some opposition to Lady Mone’s amongst Scottish enterprise individuals, however he was not given the usual alternative to debate his issues with Downing Street.

Lady Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman are dealing with a National Crime Agency investigation into the procurement of £203m of presidency PPE contracts through the Covid pandemic for PPE Medpro. Both admit involvement in the corporate however deny any wrongdoing.

The PPE Medpro contracts had been awarded in 2020 by way of the federal government’s “VIP lane” for politically related individuals after Mone approached the Cabinet Office ministers Michael Gove and Theodore Agnew, providing to produce private protecting gear.

Baronness Mone was appointed to the Lords after Lord Cameron, who was introduced in as overseas secretary by Rishi Sunak, was impressed by Baronness Mone when she backed the union in the Scottish independence referendum. She was additionally the founding father of a profitable lingerie enterprise, Ultimo.

“The peerage was a fait accompli by the time we heard about it,” Mundell mentioned. “I was unhappy that the proper process was not followed and that the Scotland Office was not asked to provide any background or input.

“And I wasn’t at all surprised to find that Scottish businesses were very, very unhappy about the appointment.

“I did communicate with Downing Street that Scottish business figures were unhappy because they did not consider Michelle Mone to be a substantial businesswoman.”

Lord Cameron had brough Baroness Mone into authorities in 2015 as his “entrepreneurship tsar” and he or she lead a assessment on supporting individuals in disadvantaged areas to arrange companies.

Cameron then made her a Conservative life peer in his 2015 dissolution honours listing, describing her as a “leading entrepreneur”.

Douglas Anderson, the managing director of the Glasgow-based plant rent firm Gap Group, wrote a strongly worded letter to Cameron after studying experiences {that a} peerage was being thought of:

“Ms Mone is not a successful entrepreneur, she is a small-time businesswoman with a PR exposure far in excess of any actual success,” Anderson wrote. “Awarding her a peerage for a very mediocre business performance brings the awarding of titles into disrepute by rewarding failure.”

A spokesperson for Baroness Mone has instructed the Guardian that the enterprise lady is “proud of her achievements”, saying: “[she] came from a working-class family in Glasgow’s East End and worked hard to become a successful entrepreneur, building one of the biggest independent lingerie brands in the world”.

They added: “Michelle was honoured to be asked to join the House of Lords by David Cameron after her role in the Scottish referendum campaign. Her appointment was duly vetted by Holac [the House of Lords appointments commission] at the time.”

David Cameron has refused requests to remark.