The UK Covid-19 Inquiry began four weeks of scrutiny of decisions to purchase personal protective equipment on Monday.
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry rejected an application from Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, to become core participants in the inquiry. The application was deemed out of time and lacked a direct or significant role in the matters under investigation. Mone had recommended Medpro, a PPE consortium led by Barrowman, which secured government contracts worth over £200 million. The inquiry, which began scrutiny of PPE decisions, will hear evidence about Medpro in private to avoid prejudicing an ongoing police investigation. Bereaved families have criticized the inquiry for not calling other PPE companies to give evidence, while the inquiry maintains it does not need evidence from individual companies about specific PPE orders.
