Boris under pressure to name ALL Ministers lobbied by Cameron
It wasn’t just Rishi. As it’s revealed ex-PM also asked Eton pal at Treasury for Covid cash...
BORIS JOHNSON is under mounting pressure to reveal the full list of Ministers lobbied by David Cameron when he was seeking Government help for the finance firm he was involved with.
Jesse Norman was yesterday named as the second Treasury Minister approached by the former Prime Minister in a failed bid to get access to Covid loans to help Greensill Capital. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has already admitted that Mr Cameron had directly contacted him to ask for the loans.
But sources now suspect that Mr Cameron lobbied other Ministers on behalf of controversial businessman pal Lex Greensill.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats insisted it was now high time that the Government revealed the full list.
Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: ‘Every passing day brings new reports that Greensill Capital had the run of Whitehall, putting public money and jobs at risk.
‘The Conservatives must come clean about how many Ministers have been lobbied by David Cameron on behalf of Lex Greensill.’
Lib Dem frontbencher Alistair Carmichael also called for ‘full disclosure’ by invoking Mr Cameron’s own previous mantra that ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant’. He added: ‘Boris Johnson will only restore his Government’s tarnished reputation by making full disclosure.’
The row erupted when it emerged that Mr Cameron had last year lobbied Whitehall to boost Greensill Capital’s access to the coronavirus loan schemes, just months before the firm collapsed.
Mr Greensill had worked for him as an unpaid adviser in Downing Street and Mr Cameron joined his firm in 2018. But when the finance
‘Greensill Capital had the run of the Treasury’
firm collapsed, the former Prime Minister stood to lose share options which apparently would have netted him over $60 million.
Mr Cameron, who resigned as Prime Minister in 2016, has already been cleared of breaking lobbying rules, but his behaviour has sparked concerns about a so-called ‘chumocracy’ and under-powered lobbying rules for former Ministers.
According to The Times, Mr Norman, the Financial Secretary, was approached by Mr Cameron even though he was not responsible for the Covid support schemes set up to help businesses in the pandemic. Insiders pointed out that Mr Norman had been close to his fellow Old Etonian, and his book Compassionate Conservatism was hailed as ‘the guidebook to Cameronism’. Last week, Mr Sunak said that it was ‘right’ for the Treasury to ‘engage with stakeholders’.
He insisted all the proper processes were followed. Government sources insisted that Mr Norman had also followed the rules.
Greensill’s collapse has put the future of Liberty Steel, which had Greensill as its main financial backer, in doubt.
Sanjeev Gupta, boss of Liberty Steel, is understood to have drafted in lawyers to defend his empire as lenders threaten to engulf him.
In 2016, Mr Gupta paid £330 million for a package of acquisitions in the Highlands, including two power plants, a smelter and 100,000 acres of estate which includes the foothills of Ben Nevis.
The Scottish Government could have to pay up to £32 million a year for 25 years as part of a guarantee offered to the smelter in Fort William, Inverness-shire, in a complex deal linked to Greensill. In 2016, the magnate persuaded Nicola Sturgeon to give him a statebacked £7 million loan to buy the struggling Dalzell and Clydebridge steelworks, in exchange for creating 2,000 jobs and building a new factory. It remains unbuilt and the loan is still outstanding.
The Treasury did not confirm Mr Norman had been lobbied but said last night: ‘Senior officials and Ministers routinely meet with a range of private sector stakeholders and the Government received many representations from the entire spectrum of British business during the pandemic.
‘The company was directed to the appropriate officials and their request was denied.’
Both Mr Cameron and Mr Norman were approached for comment.