‘Happy days if you were a crook’: former minister slams UK Covid loan scheme

Lord Agnew said Treasury measures to tackle fraudulent Covid business loans were a Dad's army operation'

Treasury officials trying to stop fraudsters making off with vast Covid loans have been called a Dad's Army operation" by a former Tory minister who condemned the lacklustre bid to stop suitcases of cash leaving the country".

Lord Agnew, who quit as the government's anti-fraud minister earlier this year, said the first few months of taxpayer-funded emergency loans being issued were happy days for crooks".