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When working-class people are poor, they’re treated as liars. When corporations steal billions, it’s called “risk” and quietly written off.

Here’s the BBC to explain how it worked – albeit indirectly:

“Covid-19 support programmes cost taxpayers nearly £11bn through fraud and error, a report will say.

“A lack of anti-fraud controls in Covid schemes that were set up quickly by ministers in Boris Johnson’s government are expected to be highlighted in the report and blamed for the huge figure.

“Rushed rollouts meant “accepting a high level of fraud risk, without plans for managing or mitigating this risk,” it will say.

“The Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner Tom Hayhoe… has been tasked by Chancellor Rachel Reeves with trying to recover the public money lost to fraud and underperforming contracts using his experience in procurement as the former chair of an NHS trust.

“His previous reports found that pandemic-era PPE contracts cost the British taxpayer £1.4bn on undelivered contracts and unusable gowns, masks and gloves.

“Only a small fraction of that – £182m – has been recovered by HM Treasury.”

The £10.9 billion figure is not a “mistake” story – it is the logical result of political choices.

These schemes were designed and launched by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government with one overriding priority: move fast, protect corporate balance sheets, and avoid political fallout in the short term.

Fraud wasn’t an unforeseen consequence; it was a risk they consciously accepted.

And Labour inherited this mess – but chose softness in response. That’s why I say the current government is collaborating with the fraudsters.

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The report’s wording is already doing quiet damage control for the political class: “accepting a high level of fraud risk” sounds technical, but translated into plain English it means: ministers decided it was acceptable for billions to be stolen, as long as big business got its cash quickly and the optics looked good.

There are several important hypocrisies baked into this story.

First, contrast the treatment of fraud. When corporations and well-connected businesses abused Bounce Back Loans or PPE contracts, the state response was slow, cautious and apologetic.

When benefit claimants make minor errors, the response is brutal: sanctions, prosecutions, humiliation and long-term financial punishment. The standard is not equal, and never has been.

Second, “fraud and error” lumps together organised criminal theft and simple human mistakes, which inflates the headline while conveniently blurring responsibility.

At the same time, the BBC still leans heavily on “the speed of rollout” as an excuse – presenting systemic failure as an unfortunate necessity rather than a political choice.

Third, Rachel Reeves tasking Hayhoe to recover the money lets Labour look “tough on waste” while avoiding the deeper truth: they have no intention of dismantling the same pro-corporate model that made this possible.

They’ll talk about competence, not ideology. They’ll chase a few billions back, not challenge the system that funnelled money upward in the first place.

The most damning part of the story isn’t even the £10.9 billion. It’s this: PPE contracts wasted £1.4 billion, and only £182 million has been recovered.

Consider the contrast:

Labour is tightening the screws on benefit claimants.

The system is still built around conditionality, surveillance and punishment.

Claimants are required to prove their worth constantly: work search requirements are rigid, sanctions for missed appointments remain routine, and disabled people continue to be pushed through repeated reassessments.

The political language from Labour is about “work first”, “responsibility” and “tough choices”, and in practice that means the presumption of guilt still sits with the claimant.

You are not trusted; you are monitored. You are not supported; you are tested.

At the same time, Labour trusts business unnecessarily, reassures it and acts as its partner.

The government talks about “stability”, “pro-business” growth and being “open for investment”.

Business is framed as the engine of recovery and the partner of the state, not the problem.

Where problems are identified – including Covid-era fraud – the tone is managerial, not punitive: talk of procurement reform, “lessons learned” and voluntary repayment schemes rather than criminal sanctions or sweeping crackdowns.

Companies are not subjected to a sanctions culture; they are courted, consulted and protected from instability.

So the real contrast, under Labour now, is this: claimants experience the state as a punisher, while business experiences the state as a collaborator.

That’s backwards.

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