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A company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone has been ordered to repay almost £122 million to the government for breaching a contract to supply surgical gowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) sued PPE Medpro at the High Court over allegations that it breached a deal for the 25 million gowns because the items were “faulty” by not being sterile.

Baroness Mone criticised the High Court judgment on Wednesday, calling it a win for the “establishment”, while her husband, Doug Barrowman, said it was a “travesty of justice”.

Meanwhile, health secretary Wes Streeting said: “PPE Medpro put NHS staff and patients in danger with substandard kit whilst lining their own pockets with taxpayers’ money at a time of national crisis.”

But the peer, who is on a leave of absence from the Lords, has claimed she is the target of a “vendetta” by the government.

open image in gallery Born in Glasgow, Baroness Mone left school at 15 with no qualifications and gave birth to her first child at 18 ( PA Archive )

Below, The Independen