Cameron ‘texted Sunak over collapsed lender’

DAVID CAMERON texted Rishi Sunak in the hope of securing huge loans for a finance firm that has now gone bust, it was claimed yesterday.

The allegation has prompted fresh questions over the lobbying activities of the Tory former prime minister. He is said to have sent a series of messages to the Chancellor’s personal mobile phone, urging him to lend millions to Greensill Capital.

Mr Cameron was a paid adviser to the specialist lender, whose collapse is threatening thousands of steel jobs in the UK, and wanted it to gain access to the Government’s biggest pandemic loans scheme.

By messaging the Chancellor’s mobile phone, the approaches are unlikely to be subject to the same transparency rules. It emerged last week that Mr Cameron contacted officials in both the Treasury and Downing Street on behalf of Greensill. The firm’s bosses also held a virtual meetings with top officials.

Anneliese Dodds, Labour Shadow Chancellor, said last night: ‘Rishi Sunak already had questions to answer as to why Greensill was given so much more access to the Treasury than other Covid lenders.

‘The suggestion that David Cameron was also contacting the Chancellor directly to further Greensill’s commercial interests raises even bigger concerns.’

A spokesman for Mr Cameron declined to comment last night.

Once valued at around £5billion, London-based Greensill filed for insolvency on March 8.