Rishi Sunak‘s political opponents have told the Chancellor he ‘must explain’ how he he is going to claw back billions of pounds of Covid business support lost to fraud amid a mounting backlash.
Counter fraud minister Lord Agnew dramatically quit the Government yesterday while at the despatch box in the House of Lords as he criticised the Government’s ‘schoolboy’ handling of fraudulent Covid business loans.
Figures released by HM Revenue and Customs previously suggested some £5.8billion has been criminally siphoned off from furlough and other business relief schemes since coronavirus struck.
Reports have suggested that £4.3billion of that cash could be written off by the Treasury, prompting a furious response from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP.
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the amount of Covid cash lost to fraud should be a ‘source of enduring shame to the Chancellor’.
The Liberal Democrats said the scale of Covid fraud was ‘outrageous’ and Mr Sunak ‘must explain how he’s going to get back these billions he allowed to be stolen from our schools, hospitals and police forces’.
The SNP claimed Mr Sunak had let ‘crooks and fraudsters… off the hook’.
Rishi Sunak’s political opponents have told the Chancellor he ‘must explain’ how he he is going to claw back billions of pounds of Covid business support lost to fraud amid a mounting backlash
Business minister Lord Agnew dramatically quit the Government yesterday while at…
