‘Pay now or face the consequences’ – last chance to return wrongly‑claimed Covid cash

A new Covid Voluntary Repayment Scheme, launched by the UK Government on Friday 12 September, gives a “no questions asked” window until December 2025 for anyone to return pandemic‑era funds they were not entitled to, or no longer needed.

The scheme covers all Covid support programmes – including furlough, bounce‑back loans, business support grants and Eat Out to Help Out – and applies to individuals as well as companies.

Undercover checks and tougher powers ahead

Covid Counter‑Fraud Commissioner Tom Hayhoe said the offer is a final chance to “wipe the slate clean” before new investigatory powers come into force next year.

“Pay now, clear your conscience, or face the consequences,” he warned. “This money belongs in communities, the NHS, police and armed forces. Those who don’t take up this straightforward offer and have knowingly, wrongly claimed taxpayer‑funded help could face prosecution, disqualification, or prison. The digital trail is forever – the time to settle is now.”

From 2026, the government will have expanded powers to investigate and prosecute Covid fraud, shut down businesses, and ban directors. Thousands could face court action, with the most serious offenders jailed.

Public urged to report suspected fraud

Alongside the repayment scheme, a new Covid fraud reporting website has been launched so members of the public can flag suspected wrongdoing.

The Treasury says more than £10 billion was lost to fraud, flawed contracts and waste during the pandemic. Around £1.54 billion has already been recovered, but ministers want to claw back far more before the deadline.

‘Extraordinary circumstances’

Mr Hayhoe said many small businesses made honest mistakes in the chaos of the pandemic, but some knowingly took money they shouldn’t have.

“I’ve spoken to hundreds of small business owners who’ve told me they wanted help but the rules kept changing and advice was confusing. Some took bad decisions at the time that are eating away at them – it’s keeping them awake at night. This scheme gives them the chance to put it right, without lengthy investigations or public shame.”

How to repay or report

• Details of the Covid Voluntary Repayment Scheme are available on the UK Government website.
• Suspected Covid fraud can be reported via the Covid fraud reporting service.

The scheme runs until 31 December 2025. After that, the “no questions asked” offer will be withdrawn and tougher sanctions will apply.

#bounceBackLoan #COVID #CovidCounterFraud #CovidCounterFraudCommissioner #COVIDEnforcementOfficers #covidFraud #COVIDGrants #CovidVoluntaryRepaymentScheme #EatOutToHelpOut #fraud #furlough #HMTreasury #money #UKGovernment

'Face Reveal'

A collage of 4 black and white photographs, arranged in portrait, versions of the same shot taken moments apart.

All are the point of view of a woman sitting up, nude, straddling the face of a man with short, dark hair, giving her cunnilinguus.

The left half of each picture is taken by her body, a plunging expanse of smooth flesh, with his face, neck up, on a white pillow. From his face radiate the folds in the pillowcase, especially on his right, looking like arboreal antlers. All is caught in the cloudy light of a mid-summer afternoon.

At the very right edges, the wooden edge of the bed then a wall, completing the framing pit it formed with her body. The light comes from the bottom of the picture. Her left. His right.

In the first, which takes the top third of the image, his eyes are closed his face relaxed, as if tasting a peace he had long yearned for. He is in his element. Her short trimmed pubes segue into his moustache, without the boundary being clear.

The middle third has two pictures, and the aspect ratio lets you see the full curve of her breasts, which are generous, with an erect, light coloured nipple brushing the top and bottom edges of the each photo.

In the left one, his fingers are visible, flat on her belly, the pad if his right thumb facing the camera. He has a slight frown, eyes shut, like he is concentrating, or trying to find something on the tip of his tongue.

In the right one, he seems to have found it, his face slightly tilted toward the light. His hands, out of shot, cup her buttocks.

The first three pictures look identical if you glossed over those details. The fourth is different.

Her back arches, pushing her belly into his fingers, visible again. He opens is eye and stares you down, as if aware that deep down, you, right now, either want to be him, or sat on him.

#AltText #AltAfterDark #Erotic #Photography #Oral #NSFW #EatOutToHelpOut
@AltAfterDark

‘#EatOutToHelpOut’ launched without telling official in charge, #CovidInquiry hears -

#SimonCase, who was responsible for #Covid19 policy at time, calls #BorisJohnson’s Downing Street the ‘#WorstGoverningEverSeen’
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/23/boris-johnson-government-chaos-smashed-good-people-to-pieces-case-tells-covid-inquiry
#EatOutToHelpOutTheVirus
#LetTheBodiesPileHigh

Gambling for personal political gain. This illustrates one issue in #politics. It is not primarily about doing the right thing but about being popular and becoming elected. In a #Democracy, the electorate gets the #politicians that it deserves. #COVID19 #eatouttohelpout

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/11/rishi-sunak-spent-millions-focus-groups-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme

#EatOutToHelpOut #Covid19

'#Sunak spent £2m on focus groups for ‘eat out to help out’ scheme

Exclusive: Extensive polling ordered by the then chancellor, documents reveal, but scientific advisers not consulted'
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/11/rishi-sunak-spent-millions-focus-groups-eat-out-to-help-out-scheme
#ToryPoliciesInAction #ToryWaste

#WeveGotYourBack #RishiSunak says to the same #Retail and #Hospitality workers that were the victims of his #EatOutToHelpOut scheme 👀

Give him credit unlike #BorisJohnson he only tried to kill off people that weren't his core constituency.... By current standards that's high competence 🤔