Review to investigate lobbying for Greensill
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson said on Tuesday (13) a review into lobbying, especially by company Greensill Capital, would answer questions about supply chain finance and the efforts to influence government by former prime minister David Cameron.
The role Cameron played in trying to lobby ministers on behalf of the failed finance company has raised questions about government access, particularly by former ministers who take up paid employment with private firms.
The collapse last month of Greensill Capital threatened 50,000 jobs, in particular at the sprawling steel empire of British Indian businessman Sanjeev Gupta.
Greensill specialised in shortterm corporate loans via a complex and opaque business model.
Cameron became a paid advisor to Greensill after leaving government in 2016, and held share options potentially worth millions that are now worthless. Johnson’s spokesman said the review would not have legal powers but would have access “to all the necessary information required and engage with those involved at the time”.
“There is significant interest in this matter, so the prime minister (Boris Johnson) has called for the review to ensure government is completely transparent about such activities and that the public can see for themselves if good value was secured for taxpayers’ money,” the prime minister spokesman told reporters. “This independent review will also look at how contracts were secured and how business representatives engaged with government.”
It would be able to make recommendations, he added.
Cameron has said he had not broken any lobbying rules, but that he accepted his communication with government should be completely formal.
The former prime minister has indicated he will take part in the review, but Labour has said the government’s response does not go far enough. “I think people have just got questions that they need to satisfy themselves, including me, about how this supply chain finance stuff is going to work,” Johnson told reporters.
Asked what he made of the behaviour of his former boss Cameron, Johnson said: “That’s a matter for Nigel,” referring to Nigel Boardman, who will lead the investigation into Greensill. He said Boardman would have “pretty much carte blanche to ask anybody whatever he needs to find out”.
The review was prompted after the Financial Times and Sunday Times newspapers reported that Cameron contacted ministers on behalf of Greensill, including sending text messages to chancellor Rishi Sunak and arranging a drink between Australian banker Lex Greensill and health secretary Matt Hancock.
Lex Greensill was brought in as an adviser to the government while Cameron was British prime minister from 2010 to 2016. After leaving office, Cameron became an adviser to Greensill’s now-insolvent company.
Last Sunday (11), Cameron said in a statement to the Press Association he did not break any codes of conduct or government rules and noted that ultimately the outcome of the discussions on Greensill’s proposals on a loan were not taken up.
But he did say that important lessons needed to be learnt. “As a former prime minister, I accept that communications with government need to be done through only the most
formal of channels, so there can be no room for misinterpretation.”
Sunak has been forced to defend himself against suggestions he broke ministerial rules by exploring state help for the stricken firm. The chancellor was summoned to answer questions about the affair in parliament.