How Rishi sent texts saying he’d help Dave
Revealed: Chancellor’s replies after ex-PM lobbied him over financier pal
RISHI Sunak has released text messages he sent to David Cameron after the former prime minister approached him in an effort to secure loans for a now- collapsed finance firm.
The Chancellor revealed last night that Mr Cameron contacted three ministers, including him, in the hope of securing government money for Greensill Capital.
Mr Cameron bombarded Mr Sunak’s personal mobile with a series of messages, urging him to lend millions to the firm.
The former prime minister was a paid adviser to the specialist lender, whose collapse is threatening thousands of steel jobs in the UK, and wanted it to gain access to the Government’s biggest pandemic loans scheme.
The messages released yesterday following Freedom of Information requests showed Mr Sunak told him that he had ‘pushed’ officials to explore a plan that could have helped the firm.
Labour last night suggested the Chancellor may have broken the ministerial code but this was dismissed by his allies.
Mr Sunak said the former prime minister ‘reached out informally by telephone’ to him, as well as to Economic Secretary John Glen and Financial Secretary Jesse Norman, over Covid support for Greensill Capital. The firm requested the terms of the Covid Corporate Finance Facility – administered by the Bank of England – be altered so that it could access it, but this was rejected.
Greensill later filed for insolvency, rendering Mr Cameron’s reported tens of millions of share options worthless.
The Chancellor defended the decision to listen to the
‘Avoidance of any doubt’
requests, given the desire to help businesses survive the Covid-19 pandemic.
He published two text messages he sent to Mr Cameron in April 2020. Messages sent by Mr Cameron have been withheld on the grounds he had an ‘expectation of confidence’.
The first message from Mr Sunak to Mr Cameron, sent on April 3, says he is ‘stuck back to back on calls’ and will try to get back to him.
The second, sent on April 23, said: ‘I have pushed the team to explore an alternative with the Bank that might work.
‘No guarantees, but the Bank are currently looking at it.’
It is understood Mr Sunak spoke to Mr Cameron by telephone on April 4.
He called him again at a later date ‘as a courtesy’ after the Treasury decided to reject Greensill’s request.
The Chancellor said last night: he had published the texts ‘for the avoidance of any doubt’.
He added: ‘It is right that the Treasury… considers policy suggestions that are put to us, especially in an unprecedented crisis. In this instance, it became clear through officials’ discussions with Greensill that their proposal was not workable…
‘I stand by my decision to reject their request.’ Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds last night said: ‘These messages suggest that Greensill Capital got accelerated treatment and access to officials, and that the Chancellor “pushed” officials to consider Greensill’s requests.’ But a Tory source said: ‘This suggestion is categorically untrue and it would only take a brief glance of the information already in the public domain to confirm as much.’