Transparency on government lobbying ‘quite robust’- minister
THERE are already “some quite robust systems” in place on lobbying, a senior UK Government minister argued yesterday in the wake of the Greensill Capital controversy.
A series of probes have been commissioned, including by Downing Street, as Westminster looks to understand the role former prime minister David Cameron played in securing Whitehall access for Greensill, which was selected as an intermediary lender for some government Covid-19 support loans at the start of the pandemic, and whose collapse now risks thousands of jobs, particularly in the steel sector.
Greensill provided US$5bn (£3.6bn) in loans to GFG Alliance boss Sanjeev Gupta sparking concerns over the future of the Monmouthshire resident’s empire, including Liberty Steel, which employs around 5,000 workers in the UK at 12 sites, including at Newport and Tredegar – and the UK Government has said that all options are on the table, including potential public ownership, to protect those threatened jobs.
However, the Greensill saga deepened last week after it emerged the former head of government procurement, Bill Crothers, took a part-time position with the failed firm while still in his Whitehall post.
But while Westminister Environment Secretary George Eustice said there might be “tweaks” required following the review into Greensill by
No 10, the Cabinet Secretary and parliamentary committees, he argued the system is already “pretty good”.
Mr Eustice, who also defended Mr Cameron’s actions, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday: “What I am saying is that we have already got some quite robust systems in place and the principle one is the ministerial code – it is about how ministers conduct themselves based on the people they have talked to.
“So, we should be worried less about who they have talked to, worried much more about ‘Are they unduly influenced by individuals?’
“And that is why they declare meetings they have, that is why they declare financial interests, it is why they declare any other potential interests of family members – and that does happen and we all do that.”
Labour accused the UK Government of failing to understand the extent of the controversy if ministers thought only “tweaks” were required to the current lobbying rules.
Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rachel Reeves said:
“Having failed to deflect the blame, the government’s latest approach appears to be to shrug their shoulders and say, ‘Scandal? What scandal?’.
“We don’t need the ‘tweaks’ Eustice said they might consider today, we need to tackle Tory sleaze with a full, independent, transparent inquiry – and we need stronger measures to put integrity and honour back into heart of government.”
Ms Reeves added that the lobbying scandal is causing “the erosion of trust in our politics”.
When asked why Wales’ former Labour First Minister Carywn Jones took a private sector job despite concerns being raised, she did not answer this question directly but told the Andrew Marr Show: “I don’t want any stone to go unturned in these investigations, but let’s be clear – standards have fallen so far in the last 11 years under this Conservative government.”
In November Mr Jones was rebuked by regulator Acoba – the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which said he broke the ministerial code by last year becoming a global advisory board member of energy group GFG Alliance, which owns Liberty Steel. Mr Jones, who was first minister for nine years from 2009, has denied any wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats also called for reform of transparency rules, with leader Sir Ed Davey calling it “wrong” that the Prime Minister is “judge and jury” when it comes to deciding if the ministerial code has been breached.
The controversy over the relationship between UK Government and the private sector follows disclosures that Mr Cameron personally lobbied Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Greensill’s behalf and was able to arrange for its founder, Lex Greensill, to have a “private drink” with Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
The Sunday Times also reported that Mr Cameron used a former Cabinet Office contact who has since moved onto a senior NHS position to secure a lucrative health contract, allowing Greensill to roll out its advance payment app, Earnd, to doctors and nurses.
Mr Cameron has admitted to pressing the Treasury for UK Government support for Greensill before its collapse but he “didn’t get anything for it”, Mr Eustice said.
Mr Eustice said the Chancellor had “not acted at all improperly” and that Mr Cameron had “not broken any of the rules”.
The Cabinet minister, who served as press secretary to Mr Cameron when he was leader of the opposition, told Andrew Marr the former prime minister could not be “begrudged” for taking up a new career five years after leaving government.
“He himself conceded that, with hindsight, he should have written it in a more formal way in a letter through the private office,” he added.
“But the real question here is what did the Chancellor do when he was contacted?
“Well, he flagged the conversation with his officials, he asked them to look at it, the answer came back that ‘No, nothing can be done’ and the company [Greensill] didn’t fit the criteria.
“The company was told, ‘We’re not going to help you’, and it went bust, so basically nothing changed.”
With a by-election in Hartlepool and local elections looming next month, the Prime Minister has been warned by a Conservative grandee that he risks losing his gains in Labour’s heartlands, which gave him his 2019 majority, if he does not clean up the “shameful” Westminster lobbying controversy.
Sir Bernard Jenkin, chair of the Commons Liaison Committee – made up of senior MPs, wrote in The Observer that a failure to be “more transparent” than previous administrations could see the so-called “red wall” seats turn away from the Tories.
Asked about Sir Bernard’s criticisms, Mr Eustice said the issue “absolutely does matter to the Prime Minister” and that he had established a review, being led by lawyer Nigel Boardman, into what went on with Greensill.
“We need to let that review take its course and then we can take a judgment on whether there needs to be any change,” he said.
Mr Eustice also said that Matt Hancock had followed the rules when it came to declaring an interest in a family company that has contracts with the NHS.
Mr Hancock, the England Health Secretary, declared in the MPs’ register of interests in March this year that he owns more than 15% of shares in Topwood Limited, a firm which specialises in secure storage, shredding and scanning of documents.
The Wrexham-based company, of which Mr Hancock’s sister Emily Gilruth is director, won a £150,000 contract with NHS Wales to provide confidential waste destruction for Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board.
Mr Hancock has no role in or responsibility for the Welsh NHS.
Mr Eustice, speaking to the Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, said: “The reason we know about this is because Matt Hancock did what all ministers do in this case, which is to declare that interest.
“And so he did the right thing, he declared that – he had no role whatsoever around that business, so yes there is nothing wrong with ministers having financial interests, providing they declare them in the appropriate way.”
Asked whether lobbying rules were “broken” if they allowed ministers to hold financial interests in companies making money from their government department’s contracts, the Cabinet minister replied: “I’m not sure I would agree with that. Ministers can move around a lot – famously we tend not to spend too long in one particular role.”