MPs’ inquiry call on Cameron ‘lobbying’

Former PM ‘pushed for millions in loans’

Senior Labour politicians have called for an inquiry into reports that David Cameron lobbied Chancellor Rishi Sunak to grant millions of pounds in loans to a finance company he was advising.

The former PM reportedly sent texts to Mr Sunak’s private phone asking for Covid Corporate Financing Facility support.

SENIOR LABOUR politicians have called for an inquiry into reports that David Cameron lobbied Chancellor Rishi Sunak to grant millions of pounds in loans to a finance company he was advising.

The former Prime Minister reportedly sent a number of texts to Mr Sunak’s private phone asking for support for Greensill through the Government’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF).

The Sunday Times newspaper said that most of the messages went unanswered and that the company eventually went bust after its loan application was rejected.

It said that Mr Sunak, who is the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire, was understood to have stood by officials who felt the company did not qualify for the scheme. He was said to have referred Mr Cameron to senior officials at the Treasury.

Those contacted by the former premier reportedly included the Permanent Secretary, Tom Scholar, and Charles Roxburgh, the Second Permanent Secretary. The Treasury later made a final decision to reject the company’s application.

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: “Rishi Sunak already had questions to answer as to why Greensill was given so much more access to the Treasury than other Covid lenders.

“The suggestion that David Cameron was also contacting the Chancellor directly to further Greensill’s commercial interests raises even bigger concerns.

“This is public money, and the processes involved in decisionmaking should be fully transparent and beyond reproach. We need a full and thorough investigation into what’s happened here.”

A Treasury spokeswoman said officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss the economic response to Covid.

She added: “The meetings in question were primarily about broadening the scope of CCFF to enable access for providers of supply chain finance, which – following a call for evidence and discussions with several other firms within the sector – we decided against and informed the businesses concerned.”

The Sunday Times said that Mr Cameron did not respond to a request to comment.