Economic Crime: Planned Government Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:38 pm on 26 January 2022.

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Photo of Richard Fuller Richard Fuller Conservative, North East Bedfordshire 12:38, 26 January 2022

My hon. Friend Kevin Hollinrake has very eloquently described the reason for and priority of bringing forward new legislation, but that opens the door to questions about the effectiveness of, and the force with which, existing legislation will be brought to bear on the key issue that Lord Agnew raised: fraud within the BBLS and CBILS during covid. We know from Lord Agnew that there were issues with fraudsters because of processes in the British Business Bank that were not up to scratch. We know from Lord Agnew that there were some banks—maybe two out of seven—where fraud was a priority.

The Minister has a choice to make. Will he come down on the fraudsters with a slap on the wrist or with a mighty hammer? I know which I would choose. What is he going to do?