CAMERON TO FACE PROBE ON LOBBYING
Greensill affair role examined
BORIS Johnson yesterday ordered an inquiry into David Cameron’s role in the Greensill lobbying affair.
Lawyer Nigel Boardman will examine how government contracts were secured by the firm and the former PM’s actions.
But Labour warned the probe risks being another Tory whitewash.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman said: “The Cabinet Office is commissioning an independent review to establish the development and use of supply chain finance and associated activities in government, and the role Greensill played in those.
“The Prime Minister has called for the review to ensure government is transparent and that the public can see if good value was secured for taxpayers’ money.” But Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Rachel Reeves claimed the probe was “another attempt to push bad behaviour into the long grass and hope the public forgets”.
She added: “This has all the hallmarks of another cover-up by the Tories.” Mr Cameron pressed ministers to win access to an emergency Covid loan scheme for his employer, financier Lex Greensill. He has since admitted he should have gone “through only the most formal of channels”. His lobbying included texts to Rishi Sunak. The Chancellor will appear before MPs today, as revealed by the Mirror, for a grilling. Gordon Brown said former PMs and ministers should be banned from lobbying for at least five years. The ex-Labour PM added: “There are principles about public service. It cannot ever become a platform for private gain.”
FORMER Labour PM Gordon Brown is a pillar of integrity whereas Conservative David Cameron is a grubby money-chaser trading on Tory contacts to enrich himself.
So principled Brown’s call for a ban on former premiers and ministers selling themselves to the highest bidders deserves immediate implementation – whatever an inquiry discovers about Cameron’s lobbying on behalf of a financier whose business collapse threatens thousands of steel jobs.
Pertinent questions require answering by not only Cameron but Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Health Secretary Matt Hancock and other Ministers who appeared too willing to accommodate an ex-PM who gives the impression of putting his bank account before public service.