Names of UK Covid business loan borrowers to stay secret, tribunal rules

Ruling says enough scrutiny exists to detect fraud while naming recipients in 47bn scheme puts them at risk

The British government has been given the go-ahead to keep concealing the names of companies that received in total more than 47bn in state-backed Covid loans, after a tribunal ruled in its favour.

The tribunal case had been brought by campaign group Spotlight on Corruption, amid concerns fraudsters and organised criminals had exploited government-guaranteed loans intended for struggling firms during the pandemic.