The North Tyneside Conservative party has been accused of abusing the furlough scheme, with allegations the group took taxpayers' cash and kept a member of staff working during the pandemic.
The claims surfaced during Prime Minister's Questions this afternoon, when North Tyneside Labour MP Mary Glindon put to Boris Johnson that "furlough was claimed for a member of party staff even though he continued to work". It comes after emails, seen by ChronicleLive, appear to show a member of the party's North Tyneside team continuing to organise social media posts and administrative tasks, despite being furloughed.
The North Tyneside Conservatives have denied the allegations and said they are "false". The job retention scheme stipulated that employees should not undertake any work or provide any services to their employer while registered on the programme.
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Mr Johnson, who was caught unawares by the question, responded: "I think everybody in this country understands that it was a heroic thing (furlough). I remember that, two years ago, the Opposition were yammering and clamouring for us to go faster—and we did; we produced a fantastic scheme.
"And yes, fraudsters will be hunted down: we have put another £100m into tracking down fraud in this country."
Ms Glindon, speaking after the exchange, said: "We had people who couldn't get furloughed and there were three million people who were self employed who never got anything. So this whole thing just makes your blood boil. It makes a mockery of everything."
HMRC would not confirm or deny whether they had launched an investigation into the claims when approached by ChronicleLive.
A spokesperson said: “We designed anti-fraud measures into the Covid support schemes from the beginning, and we are taking tough action to tackle fraudulent and criminal behaviour. We have blocked tens of millions of pounds of claims being paid out in the first place and we are using the full range of our powers to recover incorrectly paid claims.
"We currently have a number of criminal investigations ongoing, we have opened 27,000 civil inquiries, and have already made 10 arrests for suspected help scheme fraud.
“Anyone who believes an employer has abused the CJRS should search ‘Report Fraud HMRC’ on GOV.UK and complete our online form."
The North Tyneside Conservatives issued a strong rebuttal to the allegations, a spokesman said: “The allegations made in Parliament today are false. We refute them all and deny any abuse of the Government’s furlough scheme.
“We are dismayed the Labour MP for North Tyneside has abused her privileged position to launch an openly political attack on us, just weeks ahead of local elections.
“We can confirm we have not been contacted by the police, HMRC or North Tyneside Council in relation to these unfounded allegations, but we will of course work with them.
“In the meantime, we would also urge caution around the use of these unsubstantiated, defamatory claims ahead of May’s election.
“Our focus is, and will continue to be, delivering a better future for people living and working in North Tyneside. We will not be distracted by desperate, political games by opponents with nothing to offer voters.”
