Sunday 7 August 2022 12:58 AM Rishi Sunak lacked serious judgement on Covid crooks, says his former Treasury ... trends now

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Rishi Sunak lacked serious judgment in allowing billions of pounds in taxpayer cash to be lost to fraud during the Covid pandemic, his former Treasury Minister has said.

Lord Agnew, who resigned in disgust at Rishi Sunak's 'spray and pay' approach to coronavirus handouts, has said the next Prime Minister must urgently fix the Covid black hole he left behind.

As much as a tenth of the £376 billion Covid bill was squandered by the Treasury to fraud, waste or loss – potentially costing each Briton £559.

This included loans worth up to £17 billion granted under the bounce-back loan scheme which will never be repaid. Of this, £4 billion was lost to organised criminals, fraudsters and error, according to the latest estimates. Another £4 billion was expected to be lost to fraudsters from the furlough scheme and the Eat Out To Help Out restaurant subsidy.