Cameron’s ‘£7million Greensill windfall’
Lobbying row: Ex-PM ‘cashed in shares before bank collapsed’
DAVID Cameron made more than £7million from Greensill Capital before it collapsed, it was claimed yesterday.
The former prime minister was said to have made the extraordinary sum in just two-and-a-half years as a parttime adviser – although he last night insisted the figure was wrong.
The controversial finance firm went bust earlier this year after a lobbying blitz by Mr Cameron to secure further Government support failed.
A BBC Panorama investigation reported last night that his remuneration totalled $10million (£7.2million) before tax. According to documents seen by the programme, Mr Cameron received $4.5million (£3.25million) after cashing in shares from the company in 2019.
He also got a $700,000 (£505,000) bonus in the same year, on top of his annual salary of roughly $1million (£720,000) for working 25 days a year as an adviser to the board, the BBC reported.
The former PM last night disputed the report, insisting he ‘did not receive anything like the figures quoted by Panorama’. But he refused to disclose how much he did get paid, saying it was a ‘private matter’.
Mr Cameron began his role as an adviser to Greensill in August 2018, just over two years after he resigned as prime minister in July 2016. The firm’s founder, Lex Greensill, advised the Government during Mr Cameron’s time in No10 but he denied he had been offered a role while in office.
Greensill Capital lent around £3.6billion to GFG Alliance – a group of companies controlled by steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta.
According to Panorama, the firm became aware GFG was in financial trouble at the start of last year, when it began using its own cash to cover repayments it could not afford. An email sent by a Greensill finance officer to a senior manager in April 2020, obtained by the programme, said the unusual payments had been going on for four months.
‘We are constantly plugging holes that GFG cannot afford to repay... it is not even robbing Peter to pay Paul, it is just recirculation of Greensill funds,’ the message said.
Mr Cameron lobbied the Government to act as a new investor, sending dozens of text messages to ministers including Chancellor Rishi Sunak and top civil servants.
The Bank of England turned Greensill down, but in June 2020 the company was approved as a lender under a separate Government scheme designed to get emergency cash to companies affected by the Covid pandemic.
Greensill collapsed this March, leading to a series of inquiries into Mr Cameron’s conduct and what had happened to the firm.
Last month it emerged that taxpayers could lose £335million because of Government-backed loans given to the firm. The Commons Treasury Committee said in May that Mr Cameron showed a ‘significant lack of judgment’, although he was cleared of breaking lobbying laws.
A review commissioned by Boris Johnson last month said Mr Cameron ‘could have been clearer’ about his role. But it found the former Tory leader ‘did not breach the current lobbying rules’.
A spokesman for Mr Cameron said last night: ‘David Cameron deeply regrets that Greensill went into administration and is desperately sorry for those who have lost their jobs.
‘As he was neither a director of the company, nor involved in any lending decisions, he has no special insight into what ultimately happened. He acted in good faith at all times, and there was no wrongdoing in any of the actions he took.
‘He made the representations he did to the UK Government not just because he thought it would benefit the company, but because he sincerely believed there would be a material benefit for UK businesses at a challenging time.
‘He had no idea until December 2020 that the company was in danger of failure.’
When Mr Cameron was questioned in May, he said he was paid ‘a generous annual amount’ but he refused to disclose the figure.
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner last night said: ‘This is money most of us cannot even imagine, but for David Cameron it was just a part-time gig using his Tory contacts for huge personal gain.’
‘No wrongdoing in any actions’