THE Scottish Tories have insisted that Michelle Mone is not a member of their party and has “never” given them money – despite her claiming the opposite.
The renewed denials from party bosses come after SNP MSP Collette Stevenson wrote a letter asking for Mone’s involvement to be clarified.
In January, a spokesperson for the scandal-hit baroness claimed she still had a standing order with the Scottish Tories and continued to pay membership fees.
They stated that Mone had never left the party or been told that her membership was withdrawn.
In the wake of the news, Stevenson penned a letter to Scottish Conservative chair Craig Hoy.
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According to the Daily Record, it asked: "Is Michelle Mone still a member of the Scottish Conservatives?
"Do the Scottish Conservatives still receive money from Baroness Mone? If so, will this money be returned?
"What actions have you and the leader of your party taken to ensure that Baroness Mone is no longer a member of the Scottish Conservatives?"
A spokesperson for the Scots Tories called the letter a “desperate stunt from the nationalists” and insisted Mone had been wrong.
"We have repeatedly made it clear that Michelle Mone is not a member of the Scottish Conservatives and our records confirm that,” they said.
“We do not receive – and never have received – any money from Michelle Mone.”
In January, assets linked to Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman (both above) were frozen as a National Crime Agency investigation into PPE firm Medpro continues.
According to the Financial Times, about £75 million of assets, including a townhouse in Belgravia and an estate on the Isle of Man, were either frozen or restrained following an application by the Crown Prosecution Service.
A spokesman for the couple said: “This comes as a result of a consensual process during which negotiations took place with the CPS.
“It allows the wider businesses and assets of the Barrowman family to operate normally and free from any restrictions or uncertainties.
“Doug and Michelle did not contest the application and were happy to offer up these assets, which means they can begin the task of proving their innocence more quickly.
“Mr Barrowman finds it deplorable that private matters such as this are being conducted in the public realm via leaks from government departments and the CPS.”
In response, the CPS said: “It would not be in the interests of the CPS to leak information about involvement in any case.”
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is also engaged in breach of contract proceedings over a 2020 deal on the supply of gowns.
Mone has previously admitted she lied when she denied having connections to the company, a consortium led by her husband, which was awarded contracts worth more than £200 million to supply gowns and face masks.
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