Rachel Reeves comments on reports that suitcases filled with cash from covid loans were seized at the border

Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, responding to reports that suitcases filled with cash from taxpayer-backed covid loans were seized at the border as people tried to smuggle them out of the country, said:

“These are a shocking consequence of Rishi Sunak repeatedly ignoring warnings about a lack of anti-fraud measures in his support schemes.

“It is unforgivable that £11.8 billion of taxpayer money has been handed to fraudsters and criminals, and particularly painful when the government is piling new taxes on working people and businesses. 

“That’s why, as part of Labour’s demand for an emergency budget from the government, we are calling on them to let the National Crime Agency investigate covid fraud from top to bottom.

“Any embarrassment stemming from the Chancellor's criminal incompetence must not get in the way of getting taxpayer money back.”