A Tory minister has dramatically quit Boris Johnson's government over its "lamentable track record" on Covid loans fraud.
Lord Theodore Agnew told the Lords the Government's actions have been "desperately inadequate" with oversight of lenders "nothing less than woeful".
He said his resignation is not an "attack on the Prime Minister" and hopes it will prompt others "more important than me to get behind this mess and sort it out."
Quitting at the despatch box in the Lords, he told peers: “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 affect," Lord Agnew added.
He handed his letter of resignation to a front bench colleague and was applauded out of the chamber.
His resignation came after a question from his shadow minister, Labour’s Lord Tunnicliffe.
Lord Tunnicliffe had asked: “Last week the Government objected to the £4.3 billion figure quoted in various news reports.
“In many senses we would be delighted if the extent of fraud arising from the Government’s coronavirus support scheme was smaller than first thought. Is the noble lord the minister able to provide a more accurate figure today?”
As he carried his red folder and stormed out of the chamber, Labour leader in the Lords Baroness Smith of Basildon said: “I think we have just witnessed one of the most dramatic moments we have ever seen in the House from a minister who felt his integrity could no longer ensure he remained a member of the Government.”
Lord Agnew has served as a minister for efficiency and transformation in the Treasury and Cabinet Office since February 2020.
He was also responsible for countering fraud.
Lord Agnew raised four points in which he disagreed with the Treasury a failure by Treasury or the business department to understand the disjunction between the level of criminality – probably hundreds of thousands – and enforcement capability.”
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Lord Agnew said "schoolboy errors" were made by officials as more than 1,000 companies who received bounce back loans were not trading before the pandemic started.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: "Lord Agnew has served the Treasury with diligence and commitment. I want to thank him for his dedicated service and tireless work during the pandemic."
The PM is already facing the outcome of Sue Gray's report and dealing with the loss of a Tory MP who defected to the Labour Party.
Lord Agnew's departure will undoubtedly create more headache and frustration for the PM who is fighting for his political life.
Liberal Democrat Baroness Kramer praised Lord Agnew and told peers: “Can I just take this opportunity to say on behalf of these benches how much we appreciate the honour and integrity that has just been displayed by the minister.
“I don’t think anyone could have raised questions more forcefully, more accurately or more completely than he has.
“On a very personal level, I want to say how much we will miss Lord Agnew in his role, not least because of his integrity.”
Last week it was revealed more than £4 billion of public cash taken by fraudsters from Covid support schemes had been written off by the Treasury.
HMRC figures released show £5.8 billion was stolen from pandemic relief schemes such as furlough and self employment support by people claiming cash they weren't entitled to.
A taskforce set up to claw back cash recovered £500 million last year, and is expecting to recover an additional £1 billion from scammers.
