Billions of kilos in taxpayer money had been reportedly handed to organised crime teams, terrorists, Russia and the Islamic State over a six-year interval.
Taxpayer cash went to Islamic State terrorists, in keeping with experiences (Picture: Every day Report)
The UK Authorities has handed over £28billion of taxpayer money to terrorists, hostile states and gangsters, experiences counsel. A secret file detailing the transactions confirmed billions of kilos going to organised crime teams and hundreds of thousands to Russia and the Islamic State between 2015 and 2021.
The report was compiled by the Cupboard Workplace however in the end buried by the earlier Authorities in a bid to keep away from humiliation, in keeping with The Telegraph. Revelations included Coronavirus loans despatched to Islamic terrorists and grants given to firms linked to the Russian state, the newspaper reported. Taxpayer money was additionally allegedly handed to anti-Western extremists, and human traffickers who had been claiming incapacity allowances and housing advantages. Rebecca Harding, of the Centre for Financial Safety, stated the file highlighted the rising menace posed by “adversaries, state actors and non-state actors” by way of “financial warfare”.
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The transactions had been documented in a file uncovered by The Telegraph (Picture: Getty)
“One of many issues is now we have assumed that everyone desires the identical factor as us,” she stated. “What we have not realised is, on the subject of different international locations … [some] wish to venture their financial energy in a means that undermines our financial energy.”
Professor Nicholas Ryder, a former adviser to the Dwelling Affairs Choose Committee, additionally described it as “staggering”, including that “the hyperlink between fraud and terrorist financing could be very clear”.
The report was stated to have been ordered by the Conservative Authorities in 2023 after it emerged that rescue packages throughout the pandemic had been topic to widespread fraud.
However the findings, which shed extremely unfavourable mild on due diligence practices, had been so damaging that officers reportedly determined to hush them up.
It comes after an unbiased evaluation in December 2025 discovered that taxpayers misplaced £10.9billion to fraud and error as a part of the pandemic response.
The Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner, Tom Hayhoe’s, ultimate report back to Parliament discovered that schemes, together with Bounce Again Loans and Eat Out to Assist Out, had been rolled out with important fraud dangers and with out early safeguards, costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands.
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He recognized weak accountability, unhealthy high quality information and poor contracting as the first causes of the losses.
The Labour Authorities actioned most of the Commissioner’s early proposals, together with more durable sanctions and specialist fraud restoration groups to trace down suspected fraudsters and recuperate taxpayer money.
Britain additionally had one of many highest assist budgets on this planet when the report was compiled, with a dedication to spend 0.7% of gross nationwide earnings on international assist. The Conservatives lower the quantity to 0.5% in 2021, citing the financial blow of the pandemic, however Labour has pledged to revive it to 0.7%.
A spokesperson for the Cupboard Workplace stated: “This Authorities is taking unprecedented motion to deal with public sector fraud, having saved over £7.5bn of taxpayer cash previously yr by way of aggressive fraud prevention and restoration.
“Through the use of higher information and hiring extra professional investigators, we are actually discovering and stopping this fraud sooner than ever earlier than.”
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