ARE THERE 22 MORE GREENSILLS?
That’s how many business chiefs have access to No10 like financier in lobbying storm
MORE than 20 businessmen and women currently occupy the same role which allowed Lex Greensill, the financier at the heart of the David Cameron lobbying row, to gain privileged access to Downing Street, it was revealed last night.
Like Mr Greensill, they are called ‘ Crown Representatives’ – leading figures from the private sector brought into the heart of government to offer their expertise in getting value for money for taxpayers.
They are unpaid, but have access to senior politicians and mandarins, and are free to carry on making a fortune in the private industry while having the status almost of a civil servant, attending key meetings and briefings.
The emergence of 22 little-known Crown Representatives with a dual public-private role will add to concerns of a blurring of the line between Whitehall and the commercial world.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case warned on Wednesday that allowing senior officials to have
They are unpaid, but there are other benefits
private- sector second jobs could threaten the ‘integrity and impartiality’ of Whitehall.
The row has erupted because Mr Cameron, who brought Mr Greensill into No 10, went on to work for Greensill Capital, which won handsome government contracts for supply-chain finance.
Mr Cameron lobbied four ministers, including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, for Covid funds as Greensill struggled to avoid collapse, which came last month, rendering the former PM’s lucrative share options worthless.
To add to the controversy, the Daily Mail can disclose that one of the key mandarins caught up in the Greensill affair is closely linked to the Crown Representatives scheme.
Bill Crothers, the ex-head of Whitehall procurement who is under fire for taking a job as Greensill Capital director while working as a civil servant, helped recruit some of the Crown Representatives who advise Boris Johnson’s Government.
The project was introduced in 2011 when Mr Cameron was Prime Minister as part of a newly created Crown Commercial Service run by Cabinet Office Minister Lord (Francis) Maude.
In a further twist, the business activities of Lord Maude and his former special adviser, Baroness (Simone) Finn, currently Mr Johnson’s deputy chief of staff, are under scrutiny in the wake of the Greensill scandal. Baroness Finn, who helped Lord Maude run the Crown Representatives scheme, owns 35 per cent of a company set up by Lord Maude, FMAP Ltd, which advises foreign governments on economic and public sector reform.
FMAP, which says Baroness Finn declared her shareholding as required, and has no further involvement in the company, commissioned Mr Crothers as a subcontractor providing advice on procurement between 2017 and 2019.
Crown Representatives are unpaid; many are distinguished entrepreneurs and citizens and are considered to be providing a public service to their country. But there are other benefits: many proudly proclaim the role in their business profiles and it is not uncommon for them to receive honours.
The Greensill affair is not the first time the Crown Representatives scheme has been questioned.
In 2018, when engineering giant Carillion went bankrupt, leaving many public sector contracts, including half- completed hospitals, in chaos, a committee of MPs called for a review of Crown Representatives for failing to spot the perilous state of the firm. The 22 unpaid Crown Representatives listed on the Cabinet Office website include:
Boris Adlam of Faster Capital, who claims to have ‘financed everything from one-person start-ups to government and multi-nationals across the world. Luc Bardin is an adviser to Japanese car giant Toyota as well as ‘advising the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Defence’, according to his official profile.
Jay Chinnadorai runs high-tech firm Sumtotal and is on the board of Japanese firm Informetis as well advising the Cabinet Office. Meryl Bushell is a former BT executive who runs a ‘ consultancy and coaching’ business. Her responsibilities include Capita, which collects the BBC licence fee. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Crown Representatives.
THERE never was a golden age when politicians were scrupulously honest and determined to drive chancers from public life. The latest lobbying scandal, though, has placed the back-scratching between government, Whitehall and business under an unflattering microscope.
David Cameron’s murky dealings for Greensill Capital, involving cosy meetings and informal text messages, reek badly enough. But it’s truly shocking that impartial mandarins are trousering cash from second jobs in the private sector.
And when a standards watchdog member runs a firm boasting of his access to Cabinet ministers, the balloon really has gone up.
Of course, lobbying is a legitimate business especially in a modern economy.
But transparency is vital to relieve fears of murky deals being cooked up in back rooms. Sleaze brought the Tories low 25 years ago. Boris Johnson must ensure history does not repeat itself.
■ WHEN not succumbing to the browbeating hysteria of the woke mob or denigrating our national heroes, the National Trust commendably conserves our historic landscapes. So it is marvellous the charity is urging its 5.6million members to back the Great British Spring Clean. By tidying up trash discarded by morons, they will join the Mail’s amazing volunteer army sprucing up our green and pleasant land.