A Conservative minister in the House of Lords has resigned attacking the government’s handling of fraudulent Covid business loans.
Lord Agnew of Oulton accused the Treasury of having “no interest in the consequences of fraud to our society”. Lord Agnew said his departure was “not an attack on the prime minister”.
The minister with responsibility for cross-government efficiency said “a combination of arrogance, indolence and ignorance” was “freezing the government machine”.
“I hope that as a virtually unknown minister beyond this place giving up my career might prompt other to get behind this and sort it out,” he said.
In a dramatic moment in the House of Lords, the Treasury minister read out his resignation speech in response to a question about loans.
He concluded with a “thank you and goodbye” before departing the chamber to a round of applause - a rare occurrence in the parliamentary chamber.
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