Cash lost to fraud and error from Rishi Sunak’s Covid schemes could pay the salary of every police officer in Britain, it can be revealed.
The PM is accused of “leaving the till open” for criminals to grab the hard-earned taxpayers’ money in his time as chancellor.
Staggering new figures show an estimated £6.7billion of government help for businesses and individuals was actually fraudulent or a mistake.
There are around 164,000 police officers in the UK, with a total salary bill of approximately £6.5billion.
Labour ’s Rachel Reeves said the whopping fraud bill was a “badge of shame” for Mr Sunak, who she called on to “face up to his mistakes”.
The figures compiled by the House of Commons library show £3.5billion of the cash spent on the furlough scheme - which saw employees have part of their wages covered if they were unable to work - is believed to have been fraud or error.
The amount lost from a scheme for self-employed workers was £1.0billion, while the sum for bounce back loans - given to small businesses - was £1.1billion. An estimated £1.0billion was also lost in fraud and error from other business grant schemes.
Incredibly, it is believed 8.5% of the total spent on Mr Sunak’s infamous Eat Out To Help Out scheme fell into the hands of fraudsters. It allowed restaurants and cafes to offer customers half price food and drink, but there were very few checks allowing bogus orders.
Only around £770million of the total bill for fraud and error is thought to have been recovered.
Labour is demanding gangbusting officers from the National Crime Agency be called in to investigate the extent of Covid fraud - and arguing Mr Sunak’s embarrassment over the mistakes should not be a barrier to this.
Shadow Chancellor Miss Reeves said massive fraud bill was unacceptable at a time when the public is clobbered with record high taxes.
She told the Mirror: “People work really hard for their wages, and when they hand them to the government, they expect them to treat that money as if it was their own.
“It’s a badge of shame for this Prime Minister that he left the till open for fraudsters, criminal gangs and worse, while completely abandoning the most cursory of checks.
“This flies in the face of working people, paying the price for the Tory economic mess we’re in - with high taxes, low growth and plummeting living standards.”
She added: “The Prime Minister must face up to his mistakes, and start tackling the fraud and waste that has run riot since he became chancellor.”
The National Audit Office has warned that “straightforward measures” to tackle fraud were not introduced until months after the Covid business support schemes were launched.
When Mr Sunak was chancellor, Lord Agnew quit as a Treasury minister over the government’s “desperately inadequate” efforts to stop taxpayers’ money being stolen and blasted the “school boy errors”.
In the Tory leadership race in the summer, Kemi Badenoch raised Mr Sunak’s record on fraud in the ITV debate.
“When we both worked in the Treasury, myself and other ministers raised the issue of Covid loan fraud and you dismissed us,” she told him. “Why didn’t you take us seriously?”
A government spokesman said: “Our £400 billion Covid support schemes were implemented at unprecedented speed and protected millions of jobs and businesses at the height of the pandemic. Thanks to these interventions and reforms since, the UK now has the lowest unemployment rate on record.
“We are not writing off any fraud from these schemes, and have blocked or recovered billions in fraudulent activity. We continue to root out those who have abused the system, including by bringing together counter-fraud and data experts as part of the £25 million Public Sector Fraud Authority.”
... As top Tory says there 'simply isn't the money' for a pay hike
By DAVE BURKE
A Tory cabinet member today said public sector pay rises in line with inflation are "unaffordable", with tens of thousands poised to strike.
Mark Harper said there "simply isn't the money" to award more than 10% to nurses and civil servants ahead of widespread walkouts this winter.
The Transport Secretary has hinted that there could be a breakthrough on rail strikes - but said workers would been to accept reforms.
Nurses are set to stage their first-ever UK-wide strike next month in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
And more than 100,000 civil servants will take part in industrial action in December, while firefighters are being balloted over walkouts.
Mr Harper told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: "Inflation matching or inflation busting pay rises are unaffordable.
"I think we want to try and give all the workers in the public sector who work very hard decent pay rises, but they can't be inflation-busting pay rises.
"There simply isn't the money to pay for those given the context, we haven't seen those in the private sector either, the private sector pay rises have generally been settled below the level of inflation, which I accept is difficult for people."
He said he was optimistic that rail bosses "will have the ability to reach a deal".
Mr Harper met RMT leader Mick Lynch last Wednesday, with the union chief branding the talks "positive" and calling on Mr Harper to take responsibility for resolving the dispute.
Those hoping the strikes will be called off by Christmas, including TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady, welcomed a "change in tone" from the Government.
