Carol Vorderman in embarrassing U-turn following attack tweets aimed at Tory chairman
Carol Vorderman has taken to Twitter to share the statement
PA
Carol Vorderman has issued a statement and deleted a number of tweets targeted at Tory chairman, Greg Hands.
Among the vitriol of angry tweets aimed at the Conservative Party, Vorderman had made a number of allegations about Hands' involvement in granting personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts amid the pandemic.
Vorderman inaccurately claimed on social media that the senior Conservative MP had a hand in the process that saw a PPE contract given to lifestyle firm Luxe Lifestyle in 2020.
The company received a £25.8 million contract from the government as the country tried to combat the spread of COVID-19.
On Thursday, September 7, Vorderman released a statement backtracking on her claims and has since deleted the tweets in question.
She wrote: "I've been contacted by Greg Hands MP in response to my tweets about his involvement in the granting of a COVID-19 healthcare contract to Luxe Lifestyle in 2020.
Greg Hands has responded to Carol's statement
PA
"While the awarding of this contract was unfortunate, and there remain serious questions about the VIP Lane...
"I'm happy to accept Mr Hands’ assurance that his role in the process was simply to refer the approach to the JACT, and that there was no impropriety on his part."
Vorderman's statement garnered hundreds of responses from Twitter users - including GB News presenter Martin Daubney.
The GB News star quipped: "This has all the sincerity of a hostage video. It’s almost as if your solicitor wrote it for you."
Hands himself also reacted to Vorderman's statement with one of his own, calling for an apology to accompany her latest U-turn against the Tories.
"The truth does matter," Hands penned. "After her 6-month campaign against me, I welcome @Carolvorders today deleting 22 tweets & setting the record straight that I had no involvement in the awarding of any PPE contracts.
"These tweets were defamatory and damaging," he added before signing off: "An apology would help too."
Hands isn't the only Tory member to fall into Vorderman's firing line of late, with the 62-year-old regularly targeting MP Johnny Mercer in recent months.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Over a six month campaign, @carolvorders has accused me repeatedly of corruption & even worse.
— Greg Hands (@GregHands) September 7, 2023
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Today, she deleted the 22 false and defamatory tweets, videos and more, and corrected the position.
A thread 🧵 pic.twitter.com/iCxOpaF0kT
Vorderman even went as far as to claim she'd been "harrassed" by Mercer's wife during a lengthy Twitter spat.
Mrs Cornelius-Mercer hit back at the TV star and suggested she'd only been "tagging" Vorderman in a high volume of tweets to show the "awful and unnecessary traffic" the presenter initiated against herself and the MP.