Now probe Dave’s £700m China deal
Commons standards chief calls for sleaze inquiry to investigate suspicion former PM lobbied Hammond to back his friend’s investment scheme
AN INQUIRY into lobbying by David Cameron should also examine a meeting that the former Prime Minister had with Philip Hammond amid suspicion that he may have used it to pressure the Government into supporting a lucrative £700 million UK-China investment fund, according to the Chairman of the Commons Standards Committee.
As PM, Mr Cameron – the subject of an independent inquiry by lawyer Nigel Boardman over his lobbying of Ministers and Whitehall officials on behalf of loans firm Greensill Capital – hailed a ‘golden era’ in trade relations between Britain and China.
After leaving Downing Street, he seemingly hoped to cash in with a new private equity fund proposed by his friend Lord Chadlington, who had donated thousands of pounds to his Tory leadership campaign. Mr Cameron flew to Beijing in September 2017 to discuss the plan with China’s Vice Premier Ma Kai.
In October that year – 15 months after stepping down as PM – he met with Mr Hammond, the then Chancellor, and two months later the Treasury gave its crucial support for the fund for which Mr Cameron was to be Vice-Chairman.
By January 2018, Mr Cameron was back in Beijing, this time for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the initiative which could potentially net him millions. ‘Excellent meeting & enjoyable dinner with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, to talk about the “Golden Era” in UK-China relations & plans for the new UK-China Fund,’ he tweeted at the time.
Mr Cameron’s office last night said his meeting with Mr Hammond had been only to seek Government support for the ‘concept of a bilateral fund’ and he had not lobbied Ministers on behalf of the fund’s investors or partners. He informed the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments ( Acoba), which advises former Ministers and civil servants on outside employment, about the meeting, his representatives added.
Under the ministerial code, former PMs and Ministers are banned from lobbying the Government for two years after leaving office but Chris Bryant, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons Committee on Standards, last night said the inquiry into Greensill should now be extended to cover the UK-China Fund.
Calling for the release of minutes or any related documents about the meeting and the Treasury’s decision to back the fund, he said: ‘I could not understand the rationale for supporting this fund at the time. It seemed mysterious. A lot of MPs were worried about the security i mplications of pursuing t his “golden age” of relations.’
Mr Cameron was a keen supporter of developing ties with Beijing. He welcomed President Xi to the UK for a state visit in 2015 and controversially opened up the UK’s nuclear industry and communications sector to Chinese firms.
The fund’s mastermind, Lord Chadlington, has been close to Mr Cameron since he became the Tory candidate for Witney, Oxfordshire, in 2001. In 2011, Mr Cameron spent almost £140,000 on buying a patch of land next to his Oxfordshire home from the peer. A cob a approved Mr Cameron’s role as the fund’ s Vice-Chairman in December 2017 – the same month the Treasury gave its support to the scheme – but told him he could not lobby the Government about the fund from that point. By then, however, he had already met Mr Hammond, although he would still have been subject to the restrictions on lobbying imposed by the ministerial code.
Mr Hammond visited China in December 2017 where he also met Mr Kai, the Chinese official who had hosted Mr Cameron two months earlier. The Chancellor’s officials used the trip to announce a package of measures, including Chinese and UK support for the fledgling investment fund. ‘Both sides welcomed the proposal for a bilateral UK-China investment fund with an initial round of $1 billion,’ a Treasury statement said.
The idea behind the UK-China Fund – which was to be based in Ireland – was that it would invest money from institutions in British and Chinese interests. Such funds typically charge management fees of about 2 per cent of the assets under its control and performance fees of around 20 per cent on profits. As Vice-Chairman, Mr Cameron is likely to have been in line to make a fortune if it was successful.
In November 2018, as Mr Cameron tried to gather support for the scheme, he met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. His wife, Samantha, who founded the fashion brand Cefinn, accompanied him on the trip to China where she attended a banquet to welcome her to China with fashion entrepreneur Wendy Yu.
But as relations between Britain and Beijing have soured in recent years, the UK- China Fund has reportedly struggled to find investors. The boom in bilateral trade
‘It seemed mysterious at the time… MPs were worried’
Cameron could have been in line to make a fortune
envisaged by Mr Cameron has suffered because of concerns over China’s human rights records and the Government’s decision to remove Huawei from the 5G mobile network. Despite the setbacks, it is understood plans are still being drawn up for the launch of Mr Cameron’s fund.
A spokesman for the former PM said: ‘David Cameron sought advice from Acoba about the establishment of a UK-China Fund in late 2017. He made clear he had held discussions with Minister sin both the Chinese and UK Governments.
‘ He was also clear that if and when necessary, he would facilitate dialogue with the UK (and Chinese) Governments, but that he would not lobby Ministers, departments or officials on behalf of Fund investors or partners… He has never lobbied Ministers on behalf of the fund’s investors or partners.’
The Treasury said: ‘The investment fund was a private, commercial venture. Like other private initiatives… it did not involve Government participation or funding.’