Pod Insights British Scandal Encore: Michelle Mone | The Smoking Gun | 3 About this episode Michelle is trying to enjoy her five-star honeymoon. But it’s difficult when her phone won’t stop ringing. A Guardian journalist is on her case. He’s digging into claims she’s involved in a company who made millions selling unusable PPE to the government. Michelle can’t sit back and enjoy her cocktail - it’s not in her nature to stay silent. She’s going to tell her side of the story.
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0:00 Alice Levine? Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of British Scandal ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.
0:12 Matt Forde? Morning, Alice. Thanks for getting the coffees this morning.
0:15 Alice Levine? My pleasure. That place has actually opened at the end of the road that I wanted to try, so I was quite excited to get around in.
0:21 Matt Forde? Oh, the fancy, no-expensive place you've been banging on about?
0:24 Alice Levine? Yeah, exactly. Each coffee is £15 and it takes 20 minutes to craft in a laboratory out the back.
0:32 Matt Forde? The cups were empty.
0:34 Alice Levine? Yeah, yeah, no, sorry. It's sort of like a coffee concept. It's even better than the wet, messy stuff.
0:40 Matt Forde? Alice, I think you've been had.
0:41 Alice Levine? No, no, no. How can I have been? They're so expensive.
0:44 Matt Forde? Look, I feel bad you've been out of pocket for this. Let me give you half.
0:47 Alice Levine? Honestly, don't even worry about it. The government subsidised it.
0:53 Matt Forde? 11th of December 2020, NHS Depot, an undisclosed secret location west Northamptonshire. The inspector adjusts his mask, straightens his tie, and watches the forklift truck move slowly towards him. He points down at the spot to his left, marked out with tape. "unload here, please." He puts on his blue gloves as the boxes are lower to the ground, feels his shoulders melt with relief. A huge order of sterile surgical gowns have just arrived from China, and they couldn't be more welcome.
1:33 Matt Forde? This pandemic has just taken a deadly turn. Cases are rising sharply and the hospitals are overwhelmed. Bodies are piling up in the mortuaries. He looks down at the box. These gowns are like gold dust. And as soon as this inspection's done, he'll get this PPE out to hospitals around the country and give NHS staff a fighting chance of saving people's lives.
2:04 Matt Forde? He takes out his knife, slices open the box.
2:09 Matt Forde? Picks up one of the sealed bags. But his heart drops. The package is marked CE to show the correct manufacturing process has been followed. But there's no certification number with it, which means no quality assurance at all. He opens one box after the other. Every single gown is marked the same. He feels a vein throb in his head as he reaches for his pad, watches his own hand shake as he marks an X.
2:46 Matt Forde? He marches to a brightly lit corner of the warehouse, points to the pile of boxes, tells his colleague, "We need a standard sterility test on these gowns." He looks up to see a colleague walking towards him, shaking her head. "They've all failed. How many are there?" He feels winded. Here's his weary voice tell her, "Twenty-five million."
3:18 Alice Levine? That number is like a gut punch. It actually makes you emotional, doesn't it? Just thinking about how many key workers that could have helped? All those people thinking, "Okay, it's late, but better late than never because now we have it." And it's millions and millions and millions of wasted pieces of kit that we presume just go in the bin.
3:41 Matt Forde? He hears her gasp behind her mask. Her eyes fill with tears before she disappears back into the lab. He looks down at his checklist, marks the whole shipment, "rejected." His eyes fall on the branding on the package. PPE MedPro Limited. He calls out to the forklift truck driver, "Load them back onto the shipping crates."
4:07 Matt Forde? He watches the driver scoop up the boxes.
4:11 Matt Forde? Feels the blast of cold air as the doors open and the truck disappears outside.
4:17 Matt Forde? His face reddens with anger. But he gathers himself, touches the knot on his tie and decides. He's going to make sure every last package in this shipment is stored properly, kept completely safe. Because these gams aren't personal protective equipment anymore. They're potential evidence in a future investigation of criminal fraud.
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6:06 Matt Forde? From Wondery, I'm Matt Ford.
6:08 Alice Levine? And I'm Alice Levine.
6:09 Matt Forde? And this is British Scandal.
6:23 Matt Forde? Alice, if we'd dealt in feel-good stories, we'd have ended the series on the last episode.
6:28 Alice Levine? I do sometimes think, would we live happier lives if all of these series were just two episodes long? Yeah, it was just such a warm feel-good vibe all round, wasn't it? We had Doug and Michelle toasting the future of the NHS, the PPE crisis seemed to be solved, MedPro had just been awarded a contract for 210 million face masks, ridiculous, and it was kind of the chance to restore Michelle Moan's good name. Champagne was flowing.
6:55 Matt Forde? Yes, but sadly, Alice, the title of this podcast means that we can't leave the story at that, dare I say it, uplifting moment.
7:01 Alice Levine? Well, there were a few red flags, I suppose. We had a failed cryptocurrency venture, always leaves a bad taste all round. We had journalists starting to get interested, and it turns out that Michelle doesn't always tell the truth. And also just the fact that we're now in the chaos of the pandemic.
7:19 Matt Forde? Yes, you're right. Things are about to get very ugly. So, put your masks on, stand two metres apart, wash your hands while singing "Happy Birthday". This is episode three.
7:31 Matt Forde? Two days later, December 2020, somewhere in the north of England, David Kahn rubs his forehead. He needs to finish his article for The Guardian, but his dog keeps interrupting him. He scratches its ears, reads back over his work. He spent most of this latest lockdown investigating the government's VIP lane. But while the stories have been good, they haven't really gone anywhere.
7:59 Alice Levine? Okay, so last episode, Michelle Moan received that kind of call to arms that MPs and peers got, which said, please, help, we need PPE and fast. And she kind of had a lightbulb moment, and she thought, I'm gonna pounce on that. And so she was hounding, if I recall, Matt Hancock and Michael Gove.
8:17 Matt Forde? Yes, the VIP lane was something that the government did during Covid, where effectively companies recommended by MPs and members of the House of Lords could be fast-tracked for Covid contracts. Now, calling it a VIP lane isn't necessarily the most politically sensible branding to give it.
8:36 Alice Levine? Or sensitive. It's just basically saying, friends, family and associates of MPs, come this way. You get speedy boarding.
8:46 Matt Forde? David's dog nudges his hand. He looks down as she drops her favourite toy at his feet. He picks it up with his thumb and forefinger. It's covered in saliva. Oh, really? He's just about to throw it for her when something on the news catches his eye. A large number of medical gowns bought for the NHS at a cost of a hundred and twenty-two million pounds have been rejected.
9:15 Matt Forde? He rushes to the TV, turns up the volume. The supplier, PPE Medpro, said it met the agreed terms. The company was set up in May while the UK was still in the first coronavirus lockdown. David pushes up his round, dark-framed glasses, scratches his head. Who the hell are PPE Medpro? He grabs his laptop. An hour later, he stares at his computer screen. He's traced Medpro to a mysterious-sounding company based in the Isle of Man called the Knox Group. His eyes narrow at the screen as one name stands out. Douglas Barrowman?
9:58 Matt Forde? He's sure he's heard that name before. He types it in.
10:05 Matt Forde? A few clicks later, he stares down at the mail online. Michelle Moan, forty-nine, is pictured posing with new husband Doug Barrowman, fifty-five, for the first time after moving their wedding to rule-free Isle of Man because lockdowns forced her to delay ceremony three times. He reads over her Instagram post, how Covid had robbed her of the wedding she'd wanted, but how in the end she'd managed to get married on the Isle of Man with five live bands and an opera singer. He glances out of the window at the dark, deserted Yorkshire streets, at his dog still waiting for him, toy in mouth. Then back at the screen.
10:46 Matt Forde? Can a baroness in the House of Lords, famous for making lingerie, really be connected to this? There's only one way to find out. He grabs his laptop and emails her for comment. David's going to dig for answers, and if there is a story here about Michelle Moan and the VIP lane, he'll find it.
11:15 Matt Forde? A few days later, Reethi Ra Resort, the Maldives.
11:22 Matt Forde? Michelle picks up her espresso martini. Oof.
11:26 Alice Levine? Not for you.
11:26 Matt Forde? Crikey.
11:27 Alice Levine? I thought you'd be all over that, you love a coffee.
11:29 Matt Forde? I was like having a can of Monster then.
11:32 Alice Levine? It actually is. Are you supposed to eat slash drink the three beans on top? Because I think those alone are ensuring that you're not sleeping for days.
11:39 Matt Forde? I always think, I've paid for it, whatever's put in that glass is going in.
11:45 Alice Levine? Umbrella, straw, it's going down the hatch.
11:50 Matt Forde? Michelle gazes out at the glittering sea.
11:54 Matt Forde? She's on honeymoon with new husband Doug at a five-star luxury beachside resort, and she's determined to enjoy every minute of it. She picks up her phone, takes a selfie of her and Doug with their drinks, posts onto her Instagram account. "We are having the most fantastic time on our honeymoon!" exclamation mark. "Special thanks to the resort for their outstanding hospitality." She leans back on her sun lounger, flicks through her phone at the comments. "Yarz, queen, slay all day! Boss babe vibes all the way! #HustleCulture! Keep burning bright! Fire emoji." She checks her watch.
12:40 Matt Forde? She's about to head to the spa for a facial, when her P A rings.
12:45 Speaker 04 "Sorry to disturb you, Michelle, but we've been getting calls from a David Connat at The Guardian. He's asking about your connection with P P E MedPro."
12:55 Matt Forde? She feels her pulse race, as her eyes dart over to Doug. She sets down her espresso martini. "I'll call you back." She plants her feet in the hot sand, whispers over to him. "Can you believe the place, chasing me on my bloody honeymoon?" She glances round to make sure she's not in earshot. "What do I see?" She watches Doug rub sun cream into his hairy belly.
13:24 Alice Levine? That is obviously very vigilant, but also quite a visceral image.
13:29 Matt Forde? "I'm sure I've seen you rub it into your hairy belly."
13:33 Alice Levine? "Can you not please spill all our secrets, lags?"
13:38 Matt Forde? Well, you don't have to say anything.
13:42 Matt Forde? She purses her lips, stares out at the glittering turquoise sea, then snatches up her phone and rings her lawyer. "I want you to contact David Kahn. Tell him I've never had a role or function in PPE MedPro or in the process of how the contracts were awarded to it."
14:03 Matt Forde? Michelle clicks off, feels her head start to throb. These should be the most romantic few weeks of her whole life. But now, her enjoyment of the day has gone. She snatches up her bag, storms back to her room. She's sick of the press sticking their noses into her business. If David Kahn tries to link her with PPE MedPro, she'll sue him and The Guardian for every single penny they've got.
14:38 Matt Forde? A year later, November 2021, Yorkshire.
14:44 Matt Forde? David Kahn looks out at the muddy woodland path, rubs his eyes. He's taking his dog for a walk, and the rain is getting heavier. David wipes his glasses, starts running to the car when he gets a call from barrister Joleon Malm, founder of The Good Law Project, a non-profit holding the UK government to account. He hears Joleon's happy voice.
15:11 Speaker 04 "Good news, David. We've finally got the government to admit which companies were on the VIP list and who referred them."
15:19 Matt Forde? David steps back now, as his dog shakes off the rain. He's about to ask Joleon who's on the list, when he hears him say...
15:28 Speaker 04 "I think you need to sit down when you read this. I'm sending it over now."
15:32 Matt Forde? He lets the dog settle in the car. He sits behind the steering wheel and opens Joleon's email. His eyes widen as he looks down the list of companies, feels his jaw slacken as he reads...
15:49 Matt Forde? PPE MedPro. Source of referral? Baroness Moan.
15:56 Alice Levine? Oh my god, they've got her.
15:57 Matt Forde? He stares at her name. Hears himself mutter. You've got to be bloody kidding me. He looks out as heavy rain lashes down on the windscreen. He scrolls back through the emails he got from Lady Moan's legal team last December, after he asked about her links to PPE MedPro. Linking Lady Moan with PPE MedPro is clutching at straws, and grounded entirely on supposition and speculation and not based on accuracy.
16:29 Matt Forde? Then another. Any suggestion of an association between Baroness Moan and PPE MedPro would be inaccurate, misleading, and defamatory.
16:41 Alice Levine? Well, that is unambiguous.
16:43 Matt Forde? Why did she lie? And why is there no record of her connection on the House of Lords Register of Interests? He purses his lips. As he emails her now for comment.
16:57 Matt Forde? Then starts the car and heads home.
17:06 Matt Forde? Two days later, David's about to leave for a meeting when he finally gets a response. Having taken the very simple, solitary, and brief step of referring PPE MedPro, our client did not do anything further in respect of PPE MedPro.
17:25 Alice Levine? Okay, so previously, linking Moan with PPE MedPro was a reach and was inaccurate. But now, she was linked, but it was so brief, it was so solitary, it was a moment in time, don't worry about it.
17:37 Matt Forde? David squints at the reply. He checks his watch. He needs to leave now to catch his train, but he can't let this go. He drops his bag, takes off his coat and sits at his desk. Michelle Moan recommended a company that failed to deliver its goods and put lives at risk. Not only that, but there's also surely a conflict of interest here. She's a lawmaker after all. As a member of the House of Lords, she's right at the top of the whole parliamentary process. At the very least, she has to be trustworthy. Can you please clarify why Baroness Moan did not declare PPE MedPro on her Lords' Register of Interest?
18:22 Alice Levine? What is a register of interest?
18:24 Matt Forde? So both members of the Commons and the Lords are meant to declare any interest they have so that whenever they speak on a particular topic or intervene on something, they have already declared, well, I have shares in this company or I'm involved in this charity, so that it's more transparent.
18:39 Alice Levine? And is it obligatory?
18:41 Matt Forde? Yes.
18:43 Matt Forde? A few seconds later, David gets a reply. For the avoidance of any doubt, Baroness Moan did not declare any interest as she did not benefit financially and was not connected to PPE MedPro in any capacity. David feels his eyes bulge. He hadn't mentioned anything about financial benefit in his email. Now David knows what he needs to do. He's going to follow the money. Find out how much PPE MedPro made him profits from this deal and who pocketed them. And he's not going to stop until he's traced every last penny.
19:30 Matt Forde? March 2022, The Guardian offices, London. David Kahn rubs his tired eyes, glances at the darkness outside. He pads across to the small kitchen. Here's a night bus rumble past the window. pours himself a strong black coffee. He should have gone home hours ago, but he needs to get this article right. He returns to his oversized whiteboard, stares at the spider web of information he's gathered on PPE MedPro and Michelle Moan's involvement in it. His eyes dart from the pin marking a toaster factory in Hong Kong to a photo of a factory in China where the gowns were made.
20:15 Matt Forde? His head pounds as he focuses on the image. A woman, huddled over a sewing machine in a dimly lit room, a pile of blue gowns stacked beside her, some trailing the ground.
20:28 Matt Forde? "It looks impressive, but what does it prove?" He spins around, sees his editor. She's stony-faced, arms folded. He lets out a heavy sigh, looks back at the board. She's right. He still has no idea how much profit this company made from the rejected gowns. He feels his shoulders drop. There's nothing more he can do tonight.
20:56 Matt Forde? He grabs his jacket. He's about to head out when he gets a call from reception.
21:01 Speaker 04 "Can you come down and sign for something, please?"
21:04 Matt Forde? He frowns. He's not expecting anything, especially this late.
21:11 Matt Forde? He runs downstairs, heads towards the courier, a broad-shouldered figure dressed in black. "Are you David Khan?" The courier holds out a manila envelope. He scribbles a signature, tears it open, scans down the document, and hears himself gasp. He runs back up to his office, just catches his editor before she leaves. He thrusts the documents at her, tries to catch his breath.
21:41 Matt Forde? Copies of PPE Medpro's contracts with a company in China. They were paid £122 million for 25 million gowns, and they bought the gowns for £46 million.
21:54 Matt Forde? David can't believe the figures he's reading. What the hell happened to the other £76 million?
22:01 Alice Levine? And I'm also thinking, where has this mysterious manila envelope with this fantastic bit of evidence come from?
22:08 Matt Forde? This came from a whistleblower at HSBC.
22:11 Alice Levine? Oh my god, incredible. This is so essential to this case.
22:16 Matt Forde? It is, but don't blow a whistle in a bank.
22:20 Matt Forde? He grins, pins the contract to the whiteboard. He's finally got the evidence he needs, until he hears his editor's voice behind him. But you still don't know if Michelle Moan personally got any of it. He nods. He stares back at the board. It might not be the smoking gun he'd been hoping, but it's a hell of a lead.
22:45 Matt Forde? Twenty-four hours later, he looks down at his printed article. Government-paid firm linked to Tory peer £122 million for PPE bought for £46 million.
22:59 Matt Forde? David spends the next couple of days in the office, refreshing other news sites to see who's picked up the story. But no one's running with it. He can't believe it. He leans back in his chair and looks out of the window at the murky canal below. He's going to redouble his efforts. Somewhere out there is the proof he needs that Michelle Moan personally benefited from these deals with PPE Medpro. And he'll go to the ends of the earth to find it.
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24:43 Matt Forde? November 2022, somewhere in the Mediterranean. Michelle places her hand on the rail of the couple's brand-new super yacht, the Lady M.
24:55 Alice Levine? Look, if you don't want people to hate you, don't get a super yacht.
25:00 Matt Forde? Sorry if I'm alienating the super yacht community that are listening right now, but there, I said it. You're just coming across as just a bit anti-aspiration.
25:10 Matt Forde? She fixes the strap of her black swimsuit, shakes out her hair, directs Doug as he takes photos on her phone. She's sick of all the negative press pointing a finger at her, saying she made money from PPE, and she's determined to fight back. Michelle turns her head, fixes on a serious look, and gazes into the distance as Doug clicks away.
25:38 Matt Forde? You sure this is gonna work, love? She throws her hands up in the air. I don't know, but I have to try. I can't get my message across in a bloody place, can I? A few seconds later, Michelle grabs the phone, studies the photos, shakes her head. Doug's right. She needs something more meaningful than this. She needs people to take her seriously. She scrolls through the phone until she finds the perfect image. A drawing of a lonely figure sitting on a pile of gigantic books, looking up at an orange moon. She posts it on Instagram with the caption, "Don't believe everything you read."
26:23 Matt Forde? She frowns, then adds, "Or everything you think."
26:32 Alice Levine? "Don't believe everything you read, okay? Or everything you think. Is that, is that the definition of gaslighting?"
26:42 Matt Forde? A few seconds later, she smiles with relief as supportive comments come flooding in. She shoves the phone at Doug. "Look at these messages. Don't let the haters get to you. Missing you upload pics, hope you're smiling. See?" She watches as heart emojis appear under her photos, wipes a tear from her eye. She's spent months denying she's made any money from PPE Medpros deals. Maybe that message is finally getting through to the public. She looks at Doug now. "You think the West is behind this?" She feels his arms wrap around her. "Of course it is." She smiles at him, leans in to kiss him.
27:26 Matt Forde? When her phone rings, she answers and hears her PA's worried voice.
27:32 Speaker 04 "Just had a call from David Kahn at The Guardian."
27:36 Matt Forde? She plants her hands on her hips, rolls her eyes. "What does he want now?" She hears her P A clear her throat, then stutter out. He says he's got proof from leaked H S P C documents that you secretly received twenty-nine million pounds from P P E Medpro. She feels her hand fly to her mouth. He says it's in an account called the Kerestal Trust, and that the beneficiaries are you and your children. He asked if you want to comment.
28:09 Alice Levine? Well, that is quite the message to receive.
28:12 Matt Forde? Do I want to comment?
28:17 Matt Forde? She feels her legs give. She grabs the rail as her vision narrows. She stares down at the water, tries to control her breath, realises Doug's taken the phone. She can hear him now, talking to the P A, but his voice is distant. All she can hear is her own heart thudding.
28:38 Matt Forde? A few minutes later, he hangs up, and stares at her, his eyes bulging with shock. She puts her face in her hands, but the tears won't come, and she realises. She's too angry to cry. Why can't the press ever leave her alone? Why do the public even need to know her personal financial arrangements? She hasn't done anything wrong. She has a right to privacy.
29:09 Alice Levine? That's an interesting point. Does she have a right to privacy on this particular subject?
29:13 Matt Forde? Well, that's it. She's a member of the House of Lords, and this is a public-sector contract. This isn't about her privacy, as in, are you showing pictures of my children? This is about legitimate journalistic questions about the use of public money. She screams into the open sea as her hands grip the rail. Enough!
29:34 Matt Forde? She's remained silent, hasn't spoken directly to the press about this for two whole years. Not since this story first broke. But now, that's going to change. Now it's time for people to hear her side. She's going to play the press at its own game, and she knows just the man who can help her.
30:02 Matt Forde? Summer 2023, Isle of Man.
30:07 Matt Forde? Mark Williams-Thomas heads along the rugged clifftop. He follows Michelle and her three dogs down a narrow muddy path. He dodges a puddle, only just avoids getting his trousers snagged on a bramble bush. He's not dressed for this. He's wearing a three-piece Paul Smith suit. He thought he was here for a business meeting. But they've been on this clifftop for hours. It's the only place Michelle can talk without bursting into tears. He nods silently as she tells him how she answered the call for PPE. How the press have been hounding her ever since. How just a few months ago, the National Crime Agency raided her house. And no less... She shoves a copy of The Guardian at him. He reads the headline.
30:53 Matt Forde? Revealed: Tory peer Michelle Moan secretly received £29 million from VIP-laden PPE firm. He looks back at Michelle. She's close to tears. I want you to make a documentary. Put outside of it forward. PPE made parole pay for it. Mark stops still, shakes his head. I'm sorry. I can't do that. I'm a journalist. I have to be objective. He watches her wipe her eyes. Please, Mark. We're desperate. I'm desperate. Just think about it.
31:34 Matt Forde? Next day, he sits at his table in his London home, takes out his laptop. Does a quick dive into the other companies on the VIP lane. He scans down the list of Conservative MPs and peers who also referred companies. Lord Agnew, Andrew Mills, Julia Lopez, Lord Chadlington. He taps his pen as he realises. Ten companies got contracts worth 1.6 billion pounds.
32:03 Alice Levine? But were Medpro the only ones that were given such a big contract and then their stock was unusable?
32:08 Matt Forde? Tragically, no, and in the first year of the pandemic, the Department for Health and Social Care lost 75% of 12 billion pounds spent on PPE due to inflated prices and kit not meeting requirements.
32:23 Alice Levine? 75% of 12 billion pounds wasted.
32:28 Matt Forde? Nine billion wasted. He leans back, rolls his pen in his hands. Medpro weren't the only ones who cashed in. His eyes fall on his mantelpiece, at his journalists and TV awards. Over the years, he's investigated high-profile criminals like Jimmy Savile, delved into unsolved crimes like the murder of Gildando. Looking into the VIP lane is tempting. He could turn the tables, put the government under scrutiny. This could be his next big scoop. He slams the pen down, picks up his mobile and rings Michelle. It's the government that should be explaining themselves here, not you.
33:12 Matt Forde? They handed out contracts without scrutiny, so now they need to answer for it. He hears her hopeful voice.
33:21 Speaker 04 So, so you're dead?
33:23 Matt Forde? He leans back. I want full editorial control and I need you to be completely honest with me. He hears a gasp of relief.
33:33 Speaker 04 Of course, just let me know when you can get here.
33:37 Matt Forde? He hangs up, taps his pen. This won't be an easy documentary to make. He'll have to stand his ground to keep his independence. But part of him feels sorry for Michelle. Why is she being singled out when she's clearly not the only one who profited from the VIP lane? His eyes fall back on the screen. He's going to start with these other companies. He'll investigate them all thoroughly and finally shift the spotlight away from Michelle Mo.
34:14 Alice Levine? This is so knotty, because on one side, Mark has a point. All of the focus and attention and bile has been directed at Michelle Moan. But Medpro isn't the only company who's in this situation.
34:29 Matt Forde? Yes, the difficulty for him is, how does he get the balance right between proper journalistic work that is being paid for by PPE Medpro? And also not falling into the trap of perhaps doing a bit of crisis management on behalf of them. If your intention is to pull focus away, inevitably, as a consequence, you are taking the pressure off the people who are paying you.
34:55 Matt Forde? December 2023, Isle of Man. Mark sits on the cream-coloured sofa opposite Michelle and Doug. He studies their faces as they watch his documentary on his laptop. It's taken him months to complete, and today it's going live on YouTube. It has to be a success. Michelle's eyes fill with tears as she watches the part in Glasgow where she talks about her childhood poverty. She wipes away a tear as she explains how she's on medication for severe anxiety.
35:30 Matt Forde? I thought I could fix the pandemic. I knew I could. Through my supply chain, getting good quality PPE. I've been doing it for 25 years of my life. Not PPE, manufacturing.
35:46 Alice Levine? No, quite, obviously not PPE. Talk about the hubris, though, of being like, I thought I could fix the pandemic.
35:52 Matt Forde? Who sees world governments failing to control something and thinks, ah, I think I'm the one for this?
35:59 Alice Levine? It's muggins over here, isn't it, that's got to fix it?
36:02 Matt Forde? When it's over, Michelle and Doug jump to their feet and congratulate him. Someone shoves a champagne glass into his hands. He grins as Michelle tells him how brilliant it was, when something on the screen catches his eye. He stares down as the comments start to come in. The government should be on trial for their cronyism. He starts to smile, but then he reads. Shameless, she lied and lied, now it's poor little me. He puts down his glass, reads another. Some people gave their all during the pandemic, others saw a chance to make a lot of money. Mark considers closing the laptop, but he senses Michelle behind him reading them.
36:46 Matt Forde? Awful people, how can she be in the house of lords, should be rotten and present. He feels sick to his stomach. Michelle sinks into the sofa next to him. She's grey, shaking, her eyes bulging at one negative comment after the other. He's grown to like Michelle. He thought people would have more sympathy. Instead, his documentary has only fuelled the fire. He slams the laptop shut, puts it in his bag.
37:18 Matt Forde? He's already booked Michelle and Doug on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Koonsberg.
37:24 Alice Levine? Oh God, after those comments, you're looking for like a Lorraine, aren't you? You're not wanting Koonsberg.
37:31 Matt Forde? They're being interviewed in a few days' time at their mansion in the Algarve. It should have been good publicity for the documentary. But now, he's nervous.
37:41 Alice Levine? Who is doing the public relations on this? You're going to be interviewed at your mansion in the Algarve.
37:47 Matt Forde? To combat the idea that somehow you are greedy.
37:53 Matt Forde? He clears his throat. Maybe we should give the Laura Koonsberg interview a miss. She can be very tough. But Michelle eyeballs him, spits out. We're doing it. She points at the computer. And I'm gonna fix this bloody mess. He watches her storm out, Doug chasing after her. He feels his shoulders drop. He'll have to fly with them to Portugal, supervise the whole thing. And help them get their version of the story out there. One slip from Michelle or Doug could be fatal for their reputations. But it's not just their professional lives on the line, it's his now too.
38:39 Matt Forde? And he's going to do everything he can to save it.
38:47 Alice Levine? But I do have a question. Why do you think Michelle Moan became the face of this scandal? We already know that MedPro was not the only company that got one of those big contracts, and not even the only company who delivered unusable PPE. So why is she the one in the spotlight?
39:06 Matt Forde? Well, you can't rule out the usual ingredients that we cover in British Scandal, about misogyny and classism. But she has a reputation for publicity, and for seeking perhaps a bit more publicity for herself than others would. From the media perspective, obviously lots of newspapers and websites are going to leap at the chance to publish more pictures of her in her bra again. So there's numerous things going on. I mean, I may have pictures of Lord Chadlington in his bra, but the media, Alice, refuse to publish them.
39:39 Matt Forde? December 2023, the Algarve, Portugal. Laura Kunsberg steps out of the people carrier, tugs down her pink jacket, then folds her arms as her team unload their kit from the boot. She's here to interview Baroness Moan and her husband Doug Barrowman, but they're nowhere in sight. She takes in the dazzling white villa, the huge swimming pool in the garden, then grins at the housekeeper as she welcomes them in to meet Lady Moan and her husband. A few minutes later, she walks into a large reception room with the curtains drawn against the bright sunshine. Doug Barrowman shakes her hand.
40:23 Matt Forde? He's smiling, but she can sense he's nervous. She looks at the corner of the room, at Michelle. Her eyes are closed, her head tipped back as first a makeup artist, then a hairdresser finish their work. A few minutes later, Michelle walks towards her, hand outstretched, shoulders stooped. She looks serious, almost pained.
40:49 Matt Forde? Thank you for agreeing to interview us, Laura. How was your journey? Laura smiles. Michelle seems charming and down-to-earth. But she's not going to let herself be swayed. She's been researching their story for months now. Their history of denials of being involved with PPE MedPro. She's come prepared.
41:10 Matt Forde? She sits down, takes out her notes, as Michelle and Doug sit on high-backed chairs opposite. She watches Michelle nervously adjust her black silk shirt and her long, freshly-waved hair. Do you have everything you need? She looks up to see Mark Williams-Thomas. He's wearing jeans and a dark jacket. She smiles at him politely. Tells him she's fine. Flicks through her notes. But, he's still hovering. If we could run through the questions before we start?
41:41 Alice Levine? I don't think that's protocol, is it?
41:43 Matt Forde? Laura keeps the smile fixed on her face. She's seen his documentary. He's had his chance. I'd just like them to tell their story in their own words. Mark hesitates, then heads to the back of the room out of shot of the camera. She smiles now at Michelle and Doug. Ready? She nods to her crew, waits for someone to clap them to start. Laura leans back. Baroness Moun, Doug Barrowman, let's go back in time to that terrible spring of 2020. You thought you could supply desperately-needed PPE. She watches them nod. Here's Lady Moun mutter how she thought she could make a difference. Laura nods.
42:28 Matt Forde? But it was a big business opportunity though as well. She catches Mark's eye. He's shuffling uneasily. She lets her eyes fall back on Doug and Michelle, and smiles at them. She'll draw them out slowly. Let them say what they want to. Then hit them with the questions she wants answered. Her interview will be the opposite of Mark's. There won't be any compromises. At the end of it, either the Barrowmans will walk away from this with their integrity fully intact... ...or she will.
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44:22 Matt Forde? A few minutes later, Doug shuffles in his seat. He's been answering Laura's questions for several minutes now, and his palms are sweating. He's determined to use this interview to shift the spotlight away from them and on to the government and its poor handling of the PPE crisis. He tells her how his main motivation in getting involved in the first place was to help the NHS. Michelle and I watched the terrible scenes on Furlong Television and the clear shortage of PPE. We looked at each other and we thought we could make a difference. He watches Laura nod at him. So Doug, let's take you to a time when the contracts have happened, the Department of
45:05 Matt Forde? Health then gets in touch and sees something's gone wrong. They try to claw back money. He nods, feels a trickle of sweat run down his back. This is his chance to show how incompetent the government is. But as he glances down into his lap, he notices that his belly hairs are poking out from his strained shirt button. He shuffles uneasily. Laura holds his gaze. He doesn't want to be backed into a corner with this. So he grins. I think they wanted to hold us out as the Barney and Clyde of PPE. It suited the narrative. He expects a smile. Even a flicker of recognition, he's just made a joke.
45:50 Matt Forde? But Laura's face is unreadable. Instead, he straightens his back as she asks him why he wasn't registered on Companies House.
46:01 Alice Levine? Which will kill the joke, to be fair.
46:03 Matt Forde? Not exactly yes and, is it?
46:08 Matt Forde? Doug coughs. Look Laura, at the end of the day, I'm a private person. He watches her lip curl slightly. How much were you paid? And how much of it was profit? He glances down again at his strained button, tries to cover it with his folded hands. So the two contracts in total came to a value of £202 million. And MedPro made a return on its investment of about 30%. She cuts in. So about £60 million or so. He nods. About that. He shuffles again.
46:50 Matt Forde? He wants to protect Michelle as much as possible from talk about money. So he adds. I laid the consortium. Michelle has no access to that money. Michelle has no discretion over that money. It's my income.
47:06 Matt Forde? He holds in his belly, looks at Laura defiantly. He glances across at Michelle. It's up to her now to run with this. She just needs to make it clear that she personally didn't get any money. If she can just do that, get through this interview unscathed, then they can finally put this whole nightmare firmly behind them.
47:35 Matt Forde? A few moments later, Michelle sits forward, shoulders hunched, brushes down her black silk shirt as she desperately tries to hide her nerves. She's used to holding her own with posh southern men who underestimate her. But Laura is Scottish, intimidating and extremely smart. Michelle shuffles, desperate to clear her head. She concentrates on her old party trick, trying to guess Laura's bra size.
48:07 Alice Levine? Thirty-four C, no, double D. Laura's like, "What?"
48:11 Matt Forde? David Davis.
48:12 Alice Levine? Just under her breath, like, "I'd probably go for the thirty-six, but like, maybe have it on the middle hooks."
48:20 Matt Forde? Michelle always gets this right. But for the first time since her Ultamo days, she can't do it. Her mind's blank. She feels her heart thudding as she realises Laura's asking her a question. "When it became public that you were connected to the company, you both denied it. Why?" Michelle lets her eyes slide over to Doug, then back to Laura. "I wasn't trained to pull the wool over anyone's eyes, but I didn't want the praise intrusion from our family. My family have gone through hell with the media over my career." Laura's eyebrows shoot up. "Your lawyers repeatedly told journalists who wanted to report the truth
49:04 Matt Forde? that you were not connected. You didn't tell the truth for months on end." Michelle feels light-headed. She needs to get on the front foot. She clears her throat, says she was just acting the same way as any other Baroness or Lord who put names forward. She flicks back her long hair and smiles. But Laura doesn't smile back.
49:31 Alice Levine? "Oh, she's very unfriendly, isn't she? She's ever so unfriendly."
49:35 Matt Forde? That Laura Kunsberg. I mean, we had her over to the Algarve. And Alice, what was she like?
49:40 Alice Levine? Honestly, we smiled at her. She didn't smile back. We told some of our best jokes, not even a titter.
49:46 Matt Forde? What happened to the money? The profit? The £61 million? Was any of it used to buy a yacht? Michelle feels a jolt of irritation. Why are the press always going on about their new yacht? She spits out now. It's not her yacht, not her money. It's all Doug's money. She feels her anger rising. But Laura carries on. Talks about the leaked HSBC documents, the Carisal trust account for her and her kids, where half the profit went. Your family has made tens of millions of pounds. She cuts in, says again, it's not her money. Laura presses. She hears herself snap.
50:31 Matt Forde? She's had enough of this. One day, if God forbid my husband passes away, then yes, I am a beneficiary.
50:42 Alice Levine? Bingo.
50:44 Matt Forde? She takes in the sudden silence around her. Feels Doug shifting his seat. Watches Laura nod. So it's just a matter of time before you benefit? Michelle glances around nervously. She didn't mean to say that. So she blurts out. We've been made scapegoats. I'm such a strong woman, but it's relentless. And we've only done one thing, which was to lay to the place.
51:15 Alice Levine? I'm imagining Mark just doing a big double thumbs up. You're nailing it, guys.
51:19 Matt Forde? Chef's kiss. A camera zooms towards her. She blinks at Laura. Laying to the place, that's not a crime. I can't see what we've done wrong. The room remains deathly silent. Everyone staring at her. She looks over her shoulder at Mark, standing in the corner. He looks away. She glances at Doug. His expression is unreadable, but a trickle of sweat runs down the side of his face. Her mouth dries. Has she really just confessed to lying to the press and having access to the money in the future? She swallows hard.
52:03 Matt Forde? She needs to turn this around, fight back. She opens her mouth, but no words come. Instead, she hears Laura thank them both, then wrap up the interview.
52:16 Alice Levine? She's actually put them out of their misery, to be fair.
52:19 Matt Forde? Watches as the crew excitedly packs up their equipment, satisfied looks on their faces. She sits, rigid, stares into space. This whole interview has been a total disaster.
52:36 Matt Forde? She hasn't saved her reputation. She's just made it worse. She squeezes her eyes shut, sees a fleeting image of herself with Michael on Oxford Street, surrounded by actors playing plastic surgeons. Then with Penny Lancaster and Rachel Hunter, both wearing the same Ultimo underwear. She hears herself in the House of Lords, making her maiden speech. A sea of approving faces smiling at her, applauding her, everyone loving her.
53:09 Matt Forde? She opens her eyes. Watches now as the crew turn their back to her. She feels her bottom lip tremble as she fights hard not to burst into tears. Shakes her head. Bewildered.
53:24 Matt Forde? Is this how it feels when everything crashes down? She feels tears spill down her cheeks. All her battles, all her sacrifices to get to the top are over. Her reputation is in shreds. And for the first time in her life, she realises. None of her skills or her quick thinking is enough. This is a disaster. And it's one she realises she can never fix.
54:10 Matt Forde? As of November 2025, Michelle and Doug Barrowman are still under investigation by the National Crime Agency over suspected PPE-related offences during the Covid-19 pandemic. A court froze around £75 million of their assets back in January 2024, including properties and bank accounts. PPE MedPro, the company linked to Barrowman, was found by the High Court to have breached a £122 million NHS contract by supplying non-sterile surgical gowns. The firm was ordered to repay the full sum by mid-October 2025, but as of the deadline, no payment has been made. Mona's also closed her last active company,
54:50 Matt Forde? MGM Media. Despite all this, she and Barrowman have recently bought a home on the super-exclusive celebrity haven Fisher Island in Florida. David Kahn keeps a close eye on the PPE saga for The Guardian. In January 2024, Moan tweeted that Kahn "has been totally obsessed with me for years. I'd put it to him that I've achieved a lot more than he ever has and probably ever will." Kahn has won multiple awards for reporting on how the Moan family could net £29 million from the PPE MedPro contract.
55:30 Matt Forde? Alice, are you sitting down?
55:32 Speaker 07 No.
55:33 Matt Forde? Well, I'm still going to tell you this. We have got a phenomenal guest for our final episode of the series.
55:40 Speaker 07 Not Michelle Moan.
55:41 Matt Forde? You're right. It's not Michelle Moan.
55:43 Speaker 07 Oh, okay.
55:44 Matt Forde? But it's a phenomenal guest. He was crucial in exposing the story. It is journalist David Kahn. We're going to talk to him about uncovering the PPE MedPro scandal and where we are with the whole saga now.
55:55 Speaker 07 He is incredible. This is going to be great.
56:00 Matt Forde? From Wondery and Sammestat Audio, this is the third episode in our series, Michelle Moan.
56:05 Alice Levine? A quick note about our dialogue: in most cases, we can't know exactly what was said, but all our dramatizations are based on historical research.
56:13 Matt Forde? If you'd like to know more about this story, you can read My Fight to the Top by Michelle Moan, The Interview: Baroness Moan and the PPE Scandal by Mark Williams Thomas, and Investigations Into Michelle Moan for The Guardian by David Con.
56:26 Alice Levine? British Scandal is hosted by me, Alice Levine.
56:29 Matt Forde? And me, Matt Ford. British Scandal is a production of Wondery and Sammestat Audio. Written by Karen Laws. Additional writing by Alice Levine and Matt Ford. Our story editor is James Maniac. Sound design by Rich Evans. For Sammestat, our producer is Chika Ayers. Our senior producer is Joe Sykes. For Wondery, our series producer is Theodora Leludis and our managing producer is Rachel Sibley. Executive producers for Wondery are Estelle Doyle, Chris Bourne, Jessica Radburn and Marshall Lewin.
57:14 Speaker 06 A trucker merges onto the I-10 in New Orleans. He checks his mirrors. The lane is clear. And then, boom, impact. A pickup truck, seemingly out of nowhere, scrapes down the side of his 18-wheeler, multiple passengers inside. One man flees the scene, and the driver of the pickup, he doesn't seem all that upset. It didn't feel like a regular accident, because it wasn't. Across the city, truckers are getting sideswiped, all on the same stretch of the same freeway. And behind many of the cases is one person, a Hollywood stunt woman turned personal injury lawyer named Vanessa Moda. This podcast is a story about fake accidents that lead to real consequences, and a scheme that ends in betrayal and murder.
57:59 Speaker 06 Listen to Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app, or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
58:20 Speaker 07 Whimsical fun. What happens when you switch bodies with your best friend? Discover a caveman frozen in ice? Or make an alien so angry he threatens to destroy the planet? Find out in season two of the Cat in the Hat Podcast. The cat and fish are traveling the world in the great catastrophic cacophony cruiser, meeting genies, clown professors, cave trolls, and extraordinary characters along the way. With clever wordplay, imaginative rhymes, original songs, and stories celebrating curiosity, empathy, and creative problem solving, every adventure brings something new to discover. It's a world of wonderful words, big imaginations, and plenty of heart for the whole family.
59:03 Speaker 07 Listen to the Cat in the Hat Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all 20 episodes early and ad-free right now.
Previous Encore: Michelle Mone | From Baroness Bra to Baroness Bitcoin | 2 Next Michelle Mone | Update: How Could £122 Million Just Vanish? | 4 Page updated November 1, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated