Under fire Tory peer Michelle Mone is to take a "leave of absence" from the House of Lords in order "to clear her name" over allegations she profited from a £200m government contract for personal protective equipment (PPE) during the pandemic.

Her announcement comes as Labour attempt to force the government into publishing all paperwork relating to PPE Medpro's contract.

Last week, the Guardian reported that she and her children received £29m from the profits of the company.

She reportedly helped the company secure a place in the “VIP lane” used by the government during the pandemic.

The Lords standards watchdog is also currently investigating Baroness Mone over her alleged involvement in procuring contracts for the firm.

The peer has consistently denied any “role or function” in the company, and her lawyers have previously said she is “not connected to PPE Medpro in any capacity”.

The leave of absence means Lady Mone will not attend sittings of the House, vote on any proceedings and will not be able to claim any allowance.

The Mayfair Baroness has only spoken in the Lords five times since being made a peer in 2015 by David Cameron, most recently in 2020.

However, she has voted 280 times, most recently trooping through the lobby to support the government's Nationality and Borders Bill in April.

A spokesman for the Tory peer said: “With immediate effect, Baroness Mone will be taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her.”

Earlier, Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner accused members of the Tory party of using the pandemic as an “opportunity” to “get rich."

She told the Today Programme that companies like PPE Medpro were recommended during the pandemic by Tory ministers, MPs and peers, and given “fast track” and “preferential treatment”.

She described the so-called VIP lane as “a scandal of epic proportions”.

She said that the company was awarded a £122 million contract for gowns that “could not be used” and that £700,000 of “taxpayers’ money” a day is now being wasted on storing the unusable PPE. The company has denied that the kit was faulty.

Ms Rayner added: “This looks very dodgy – people making huge sums of money on PPE that couldn’t be used. It needs to be exposed now. Those documents need to come out and it needs to be out in the open.”

Labour will present a humble address motion to force a binding Commons vote to secure the release of documents relating to the contracts to the Public Accounts Committee.

The government will not oppose the Labour motion, which means it will pass and should bind the government into releasing emails and contracts. 

Responding to Ms Mone's decision to take a leave of absence, Ms Rayner said the Tory government was now "all out of excuses."

"Ministers must now set out clear timelines on when, where, and how this information will be released. They can’t keep taking the public for fools by refusing to come clean on what they knew about this dodgy deal.

"Rishi Sunak was too weak to remove the whip, and has left it to Baroness Mone to finally read the writing on the wall."

Brendan O'Hara, the SNP’s Cabinet Office spokesperson, said the Baroness should have had the whip removed from her "a long time ago while a thorough investigation into her business dealings was carried out."

He added: “Instead, the Tories have turned a blind eye while presiding over an anything-goes culture that has seen vast sums of money given to friends, family and party donors. 

“The exact circumstances surrounding Baroness Mone’s case are now the subject of a National Crime Agency investigation, which must be allowed to proceed without hindrance – but it is clearly for her to answer exactly how much money she and her family have made from these contracts, in what circumstances and what tax arrangements were made. 

“But the bottom line in this whole affair is that the stench of sleaze surrounding this broken Tory government has become simply unbearable.”