The business department’s handling of Covid support schemes left an “open goal” to fraudsters and embezzlers that has added “billions to taxpayer woes”, parliament’s spending watchdog has found. In its review of the annual report of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said it recognised that the government offered crucial support to businesses at the height of the pandemic. – Guardian
The European Commission has raised the spectre of an economically damaging trade war with the UK, pledging to respond with “all measures at its disposal” if Liz Truss presses ahead with a plan to rewrite the Northern Ireland protocol. The foreign secretary set out plans on Tuesday to table a bill that would make key changes to the protocol, including waiving all checks on goods flowing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland where they are not destined for the Republic of Ireland. – Guardian
The Bank of England has made “serious mistakes” in the fight against inflation and is facing a prolonged bout of painful price rises unless it acts immediately, its former Governor Lord King has warned. Officials at Threadneedle Street fuelled a surge in prices with a money printing spree during the Covid pandemic, the crossbench peer said. – Telegraph
A senior executive at the cybersecurity company Darktrace has been named as “part of a clique” behind Britain’s biggest ever fraud in a ruling at the High Court. Nicole Eagan, chief strategy officer at Darktrace, was also investigated by the US Department of Justice for her role in the toxic $11bn (£8.9bn) sale of software business Autonomy a decade ago, Mr Justice Hildyard revealed in a judgment handed down on Tuesday. – Telegraph
The proceeds of the £14.4 million fine imposed on KPMG last week for forging documents in connection with its audit of the collapsed construction group Carillion is to go to the trade body for accountants, with none of the money going to taxpayers or other creditors. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is set to receive the entire proceeds of the fine in another example, critics say, of it profiting from the misconduct of members while victims receive nothing. – The Times
