Greensill Capital: Labour calls for probe into Cameron’s lobbying

Labour has called for an urgent investigation into the deepening scandal surrounding David Cameron’s role in lobbying the government on behalf of failed finance firm Greensill Capital, and pledged a major overhaul of lobbying rules. So far, two key bodies – including the lobbying registrar set up by Cameron himself – have said the revelations lie outside their scope to investigate.

It comes after David Cameron broke his silence on his involvement, saying he accepts that there were “important lessons to be learnt” but that he broke no rules.

The former prime minister has come under fire in recent weeks for a growing list of claims about his lobbying for Greensill – including sending texts to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, two other ministers and senior Treasury and No 10 officials.

In the most recent revelation, the Sunday Times found that Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, met Cameron and financier Lex Greensill for a “private drink” in 2019 to discuss a new payment scheme for the NHS.

In a 1,800 word statement, Cameron made no apology for lobbying government figures, instead focusing on his methods of communication. “As a former Prime Minister, I accept that communications with government need to be done through only the most formal of channels, so there can be no room for misinterpretation,” he said.

Despite admitting that there were “important lessons to be learnt”, Cameron insisted that he broke “no codes of conduct and no government rules”. He said that despite his efforts, his proposals to grant Greensill Capital access to the Bank of England’s Covid corporate financing facility (CCFF) were not taken up.

Cameron used the statement to push back against some of the allegations made about his involvement with the finance firm, insisting they were “not correct”. He said the value of his shares were “nowhere near the amount speculated in the press” – around $60 million – and that his motivation for joining the firm was to help businesses.

He said that a “false impression” had been created about his proximity to Lex Greensill during his time as PM. The financier was brought in to work with the government by the former Cabinet Secretary, Jeremy Heywood, in 2011, but Cameron insisted that he had “very little” to do with Greensill at this stage. He said that he met Greensill twice “at most” during his time as PM, and that the idea of working for him was “never raised, or considered by me, until well after I left office.”

Cameron also addressed one of the most damaging revelations reported by the FT – that he met Saudi Arabia’s crown prince during a business trip with Greensill in January 2020, a little over a year after the brutal murder of the critical Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As early as the month of the murder, MI6 chief Sir John Sawers said “all the evidence” suggested the Prince’s critic had been murdered on the orders of someone close to him.

After acknowledging the trip, Cameron said: “While in Saudi Arabia, I took the opportunity to raise concerns about human rights, as I always did when meeting the Saudi leadership when I was prime minister.”