Another blow for Boris as Treasury minister QUITS in the Lords slamming ‘indolence, arrogance and ignorance’ that cost taxpayer BILLIONS in Covid loans fraud – as Dominic Cummings renews attack on Partygate scandal ahead of crunch report
- Lord Agnew dramatically quit in House of Lords over ‘inadequate’ counter-fraud measures on Covid support
- Treasury minister said ‘schoolboy errors’ were costing the country the equivalent of a penny on income tax
- Another blow to Boris Johnson amid Partygate scandal and allegations minister was sacked for ‘Muslimness’
Boris Johnson suffered another body blow today as a Treasury minister dramatically quit branding the government’s Covid anti-fraud measures ‘indolent, arrogant and ignorant’.
Lord Agnew announced he was resigning at the despatch box in the Upper House – drawing gasps from peers as he took aim at ‘schoolboy errors’ in tackling abuse of support schemes.
The bombshell came as he was updating peers about the £4.3billion of Covid loans written off by the Treasury – which Labour said has gone to ‘fraudsters’.
Telling the chamber he was unhappy with working between the Business Department and the Treasury, Lord Agnew 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.’
He added: ‘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.’
After finishing his speech raging at a ‘combination of arrogance, indolence, and ignorance’ that is costing the equivalent of a penny on income tax, the Treasury minister said ‘thank you and goodbye’ and strode out of the Lords chamber to applause from his fellow peers.
Lord Agnew announced he was resigning at the despatch box in the Upper House – drawing gasps from peers
Boris Johnson visited Milton Keynes Hospital today as he awaits the results of the Sue Gray inquiry into Partygate
The Prime Minister is currently fighting wars on several fronts as he attempts to maintain his premiership.
Though Sue Gray’s inquiry into ‘partygate’ is believed to have dug up some extremely damning evidence, here are some of the other challenges facing Downing Street which could prove deadly to Boris’ leadership.
Allegations of Islamophobia
Nusrat Ghani, the first Muslim woman to be elected as a Tory MP in 2015, said she was told by a party whip she was being axed in Feb 2020 because her status as a Muslim woman was ‘making colleagues feel uncomfortable’.
She also claimed she was told by the whip that she had been fired for saying to Boris Johnson that they had a ‘women problem’, in attracting female voters.
Ms Ghani claimed she raised the issue through official party channels but said she was warned that if she continued to do so, she would be ‘ostracised’ by her colleagues and her ‘career and reputation would be destroyed’.
William Wragg’s allegations of MP blackmail
William Wragg, a backbencher who accused Downing Street of trying to blackmail rebel MPs, said yesterday he would meet police to discuss his allegations.
Downing Street said it had not seen any proof of the behaviour he alleges, but Chris Bryant, chairman of the Commons Committee on Standards, said about a dozen Tory MPs alleged whips threatened to withdraw funding for their constituencies should they not show support for Johnson.
Whips have also been accused of heavy-handed attempts to intimidate the rebels with the threat of revealing allegations about their sex lives.
1922 Committee
William Wragg and Nusrat Ghani are joint vice-chairmen of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers.
The committee’s executive secretary Gary Sambrook has also expressed his desire for a new Tory leader, while treasurer Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown voiced frustration with the PM last year.
If Johnson were to win a party confidence vote, he would be immune to another leadership challenge for a year – but the committee is considering cutting this immunity period to six months.
Defectors
Former Tory MP Christian Wakeford crossed the floor and joined the Labour party last week.
Though defections are rare in Parliament, there are rumours that more Tory MPs may soon follow suit.
Lord Agnew told the House: ‘The oversight by both BEIS and the British Business Bank of the panel lenders of BBLs has been nothing less than woeful.
‘They have been assisted by the Treasury, who appear to have no knowledge or little interest in the consequences of fraud to our economy or our society.’
He told the Lords that BEIS had ‘two counter-fraud staff’ at the start of the pandemic who would not ‘engage constructively’ with his counter-fraud team in the Cabinet Office.
He added: ‘Schoolboy errors were made, for example allowing over a thousand companies to receive bounceback loans that were not even trading when Covid struck.’
Lord Agnew tried to distance himself from the growing calls to oust the PM.
‘It is worth saying that none of this related to far more dramatic political events being played out across Westminster. This is not an attack on the Prime Minister and I am sorry for the inconvenience it will cause,’ he said.
‘I hope that as a virtually unknown minister beyond this place, it might prompt others more important beyond me to get behind this and sort it out.
‘It matters for all the obvious reasons but there is a penny of income tax waiting to be claimed here if we just woke up.
‘Total fraud loss across Government is estimated at £29billion a year, of course not all can be stopped but a combination of arrogance indolence and ignorance freezes the Government machine.’
Responding, 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.’
Although Lord Agnew insisted there was no connection to Mr Johnson’s other woes, the move will intensify pressure on the already-embattled premier.
Mr Johnson is facing another week from hell as the top civil servant finalises her inquiry into alleged lockdown breaches in Whitehall, while furious Tories prepare for another coup bid.
Dominic Cummings today revealed he is only giving written evidence to the Partygate inquiry to avoid Mr Johnson ‘inventing nonsense’ about what he said.
The former No10 chief said he is not speaking to Sue Gray chief directly as he claimed staff are not handing crucial material to the top civil servant due to fears Boris Johnson will see it.
The comments came amid rumours Downing Street police have supplied ‘extremely damning’ testimony to Ms Gray, with storm clouds seemingly gathering around Mr Johnson.
But the PM’s spokesman pointedly refused to say that Ms Gray’s whole report will be published – saying it will be down to the premier how much is released.
Mr Cummings has already revealed he is ready to swear on oath that Mr Johnson was warned that a ‘BYOB’ bash in May 2020 would break the rules.
In a blog post this afternoon, the ex-aide wrote: ‘When SG asked to speak to me I emailed to the effect: if we speak the PM will invent nonsense and spin it to the media and you and I will both have problems, let’s keep everything in writing, therefore he cannot invent things I’ve supposedly said to you, there is only a written record, this makes both our lives easier.
‘She agreed. So I have answered questions in writing and will answer further questions in writing if she wants. But I will not speak and therefore provide the PM with more chances to lie and confuse everybody.
‘I know others are very worried about handing things to the Cabinet Office because they know the PM will see everything SG collects. This inevitably means that evidence, including photos, is not given to her and instead will keep leaking after her report.’
He stressed that his caution was a ‘consequence of beliefs about the PM’s integrity, not SG’s’.
Officers from the Scotland Yard’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command who were guardian No10 are said to have been ‘only too willing’ to provide accounts to the investigation.
However, the premier has signalled defiance, and has reportedly reunited a team of allies who helped secure him the leadership to shore up support among MPs. Wags have nicknamed the group – including ministers Conor Burns, Nigel Adams, and Chris Pincher the ‘Avengers’.
He is expected to push Speaker Lindsay Hoyle to let him respond to Ms Gray’s findings within hours of them being released, so he can take charge of the ‘narrative’.
Mr Cummings, pictured outside his London home today, has levelled a series of allegations at the PM over Partygate
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