Sunak defended in lobbying row

RISHI SUNAK has been defended by a fellow Cabinet Minister amid calls for an investigation after text messages showed he “pushed” officials to consider plans that could have helped a firm David Cameron was lobbying for.

Labour questioned whether the Chancellor had broken the ministerial code, while the SNP urged Conservative North Yorkshire MP Mr Sunak to appear before Parliament next week to “set the record straight” over his full exchanges with the former Prime Minister.

The Chancellor was defended by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps yesterday, who insisted that Mr Sunak followed rules “absolutely to the letter” and that he was “just being polite” to a former colleague.

Mr Sunak had said the former PM “reached out informally by telephone” to him, as well as Economic Secretary John Glen and Financial Secretary Jesse Norman, over Covid support for Greensill Capital.

The collapsed finance company Greensill had approached

Treasury officials regarding access to the Covid Corporate Finance Facility (CCFF), administered by the Bank of England.

Mr Sunak said the meetings covered requests made by Greensill to change the terms of the scheme or broaden its scope to allow them access to it, both of which were rejected.

Greensill subsequently filed for insolvency, putting at risk thousands of steelmaking jobs in the UK – including at Liberty Steel plants in Rotherham, Stocksbridge and Scunthorpe – and rendering Mr Cameron’s reported tens of millions of share options worthless.

The Chancellor defended the decision to listen to the requests given the desire to help businesses survive the pandemic, before confirming Mr Cameron’s lobbying activities.

Mr Sunak, responding to a

Freedom of Information request, also published two text messages he sent to Mr Cameron in April 2020, although messages sent by Mr Cameron have been withheld by the Government.

Asked if Mr Sunak had behaved appropriately, Mr Shapps told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “He has followed absolutely to the letter what you should do.

“It actually says in the ministerial code, if you get contact like this, what you must do is forward it on and let it be dealt with via the usual channels. Which is exactly what happened, to a negative result.”

He has followed absolutely to the letter what you should do. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme