Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The six probes to detect truth
A NUMBER of inquiries have been launched into different aspects of the Greensill lobbying row.
Boris Johnson has ordered lawyer Nigel Boardman to probe the behind-the-scenes links between Lex Greensill and his firm Greensill Capital with the Government.
The independent probe, which is due to report back in June, will also look at use of supply chain finance – where companies can get cash from banks to pay their suppliers quickly – in Government.
The influential Commons committee will focus on learning regulatory lessons from the collapse of Greensill Capital. It will also look at how the Treasury responded to David Cameron’s lobbying efforts – and could summon Chancellor Rishi Sunak to give evidence before them.
MPS on the PAC, which examines value for money in Government, will dig into supply chain financing and Covid corporate financing following the row over Greensill Capital. The committee plans to invite Mr Cameron to give evidence, as well as senior
Treasury officials Charles Roxburgh and Tom Scholar.
Tory chairman William Wragg announced his committee would mount a full inquiry into “topical matters around Greensill”, which will most likely examine lobbying rules. Mr Wragg referenced the anti-corruption unit in TV drama Line of Duty when he told MPS on Wednesday that his committee would be the “AC-12 of Whitehall”.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case ordered civil servants to urgently declare if they were moonlighting in the private sector after it emerged a senior official had worked for Greensill while on the Government payroll. He told heads of departments, to root out any conflicts of interests by the end of the week.
Chairman and former MI5 boss Lord Evans said his committee would take submissions about the scandal as part of a broader review of standards. In a letter to Labour, Lord Evans made it clear the watchdog did not investigate individuals such as Mr Cameron.