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Minister quits in Lords over government handling of Covid loans fraud
Lord Agnew resigns in parliament after £4.3bn write-off, saying oversight of loans scheme had been ‘nothing less than woeful’
...
Speaking in the House of Lords, he accused the government of “arrogance, indolence and ignorance” in its attitude to tackling fraud estimated to cost £29bn a year.
The row over the decision will leave Johnson fighting Conservative anger on yet another front, with the prime minister facing pressure from backbenchers over Sue Gray’s inquiry into alleged lockdown-breaking parties, as well as over the rise in national insurance contributions, whips’ tactics, and accusations of Islamophobia.
In his statement, Lord Agnew said his resignation was not an attack on the prime minister but that he could not stay on in good conscience.
...
Speaking in the House of Lords, he accused the government of “arrogance, indolence and ignorance” in its attitude to tackling fraud estimated to cost £29bn a year.
The row over the decision will leave Johnson fighting Conservative anger on yet another front, with the prime minister facing pressure from backbenchers over Sue Gray’s inquiry into alleged lockdown-breaking parties, as well as over the rise in national insurance contributions, whips’ tactics, and accusations of Islamophobia.
In his statement, Lord Agnew said his resignation was not an attack on the prime minister but that he could not stay on in good conscience.
Presumably it's not an attack on the prime minister because Johnson was too preoccupied with partying to pay any attention to whatever the fuck was going on and is away with the fairies most of the time anyway.
“Given that I am the minister for counter-fraud, it would be somewhat dishonest to stay on in that role if I am incapable of doing it properly. It is for this reason that I have sadly decided to tender my resignation as a minister across the Treasury and Cabinet Office with immediate effect.”
...
HMRC believes that about £5.8bn, or 7%, of the £81.2bn paid out by the taxpayer through the various Covid-19 emergency response schemes has been stolen. So far, just £500m has been recovered, and it expects to be able to recover between another £800m and £1bn by 2023.
The National Audit Office (NAO) has singled out the government’s “inadequate” attempts to tackle fraud within the £47bn business bounce-back loan scheme (BBLS). It warned in December that loans worth £4.9bn, or 11% of the total, would be lost to fraud because anti-fraud checks had been “implemented too slowly”.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/24/minister-resigns-in-protest-at-handling-of-fraudulent-covid-loans
...
HMRC believes that about £5.8bn, or 7%, of the £81.2bn paid out by the taxpayer through the various Covid-19 emergency response schemes has been stolen. So far, just £500m has been recovered, and it expects to be able to recover between another £800m and £1bn by 2023.
The National Audit Office (NAO) has singled out the government’s “inadequate” attempts to tackle fraud within the £47bn business bounce-back loan scheme (BBLS). It warned in December that loans worth £4.9bn, or 11% of the total, would be lost to fraud because anti-fraud checks had been “implemented too slowly”.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/24/minister-resigns-in-protest-at-handling-of-fraudulent-covid-loans
The nobility of Agnew's resignation is tempered by the fact he's likely just another rat bailing out of the rapidly sinking Tory hulk before it turns turtle and takes them all down with it. This from October last year suggests Agnew might have been more appropriately titled the Minister for Fraud:
EXCLUSIVE: Government ministers Michael Gove and Lord Agnew referred six Covid testing firms to the VIP ‘Fast Track’ lane
Good Law Project can now reveal that Michael Gove, and Cabinet Office Minister Lord Agnew, referred six firms down a fast track ‘VIP’ route to bid for lucrative Test and Trace contracts. This is the first time the names of the Ministers who referred testing firms for VIP treatment have been made public.
When we first revealed evidence of a VIP lane for politically connected suppliers to win multi-million pound testing contracts, Government claimed that what we were saying was “completely false”.
Now, after a lengthy battle with the Cabinet Office, it has admitted that senior ministers Michael Gove and Lord Agnew frequently made use of a ‘fast track’ lane.
In its FOI response, it confirms: “a total of 6 offers of help were received to the VIP email address: covidtestingtriage@dhsc.gov.uk from the Private Office of Michael Gove and the Private Office of Lord Agnew”.
https://goodlawproject.org/news/michael-gove-lord-agnew-testing-vip-lane/
Good Law Project can now reveal that Michael Gove, and Cabinet Office Minister Lord Agnew, referred six firms down a fast track ‘VIP’ route to bid for lucrative Test and Trace contracts. This is the first time the names of the Ministers who referred testing firms for VIP treatment have been made public.
When we first revealed evidence of a VIP lane for politically connected suppliers to win multi-million pound testing contracts, Government claimed that what we were saying was “completely false”.
Now, after a lengthy battle with the Cabinet Office, it has admitted that senior ministers Michael Gove and Lord Agnew frequently made use of a ‘fast track’ lane.
In its FOI response, it confirms: “a total of 6 offers of help were received to the VIP email address: covidtestingtriage@dhsc.gov.uk from the Private Office of Michael Gove and the Private Office of Lord Agnew”.
https://goodlawproject.org/news/michael-gove-lord-agnew-testing-vip-lane/
And this is from April last year:
Minister Lord Agnew accused in conflict of interest row
A Cabinet Office minister in charge of procurement is at the centre of a conflict of interest row after it emerged that he has shares in a firm that helps companies to bid for government contracts worth millions.
Lord Agnew of Oulton, also a significant Conservative donor, is among shareholders of Public Group, which makes its money by helping start-ups to win contracts with government departments. Labour accused Agnew of a potential conflict of interest and called for an “urgent ramping up of transparency at the heart of government” to tackle alleged cronyism.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/minister-lord-agnew-embroiled-conflict-of-interest-row-0gc2qp55l
A Cabinet Office minister in charge of procurement is at the centre of a conflict of interest row after it emerged that he has shares in a firm that helps companies to bid for government contracts worth millions.
Lord Agnew of Oulton, also a significant Conservative donor, is among shareholders of Public Group, which makes its money by helping start-ups to win contracts with government departments. Labour accused Agnew of a potential conflict of interest and called for an “urgent ramping up of transparency at the heart of government” to tackle alleged cronyism.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/minister-lord-agnew-embroiled-conflict-of-interest-row-0gc2qp55l