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New questions arise about David Cameron’s attempts to pressure the government on behalf of Greensill Capital, after he allegedly contacted the chancellor’s private phone in hopes of gaining special access to hundreds of thousands of pounds of emergency Covid loans.
The Sunday Times reported that the former prime minister, who was a Greensill adviser and shareholder, sent several text messages to Rishi Sunak in April 2020, hoping to gain access to cheap, 100% government-backed loans through the Covid Corporate Finance Line (CCFF).
Greensill hoped to use the money to lend cash to his clients, which included Liberty Steel’s owner, GFG Alliance. However, giving Greensill access to the CCFF would have meant bending the rules, as lenders are not meant to borrow money through that program.
Most of Cameron’s text messages to Sunak went unanswered, the newspaper said. The chancellor reportedly backed officials who said Greensill did not qualify for the plan and referred Cameron to senior Treasury officials, including permanent secretaries Tom Scholar and Charles Roxburgh, who were later contacted by the former prime minister.
The Guardian took the allegations to Cameron’s office, which did not respond. The Treasury declined to comment.
Cameron’s attempts to influence officials were part of broader lobbying efforts by Greensill, which, according to public records, also held 10 virtual meetings with Scholar and Roxburgh between March and June of last year.
Greensill, who loaned money to large companies so they could pay their suppliers, took a management role this month after insurers refused to renew contracts covering their loans.
The Labor Party has stepped up its calls for an investigation into the former prime minister’s alleged attempts to use his influence in Whitehall. Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds said: “Rishi Sunak already had questions to answer about why Greensill had so much more access to the Treasury than other Covid lenders.
“The suggestion that David Cameron was also contacting the Chancellor directly to promote Greensill’s business interests raises even greater concerns.
“This is public money and the processes involved in making decisions must be completely transparent and irreproachable. We need a full and thorough investigation of what happened here. “
Cameron’s lobbying efforts also extended to Sydney. Sources told The Guardian that in 2018, the former prime minister met with an employee of an Australian insurance company, who was later fired for his alleged involvement in over-length contracts underpinning Greensill’s controversial loan model.
Cameron has not responded to requests for comment on the purpose of that visit.
Although Greensill was based in Australia, its largest offices were in the UK, where it employed almost 600 people. Managers confirmed that 440 UK employees were laid off last week.
Meanwhile Liberty, the UK’s third-largest steel producer, has been forced to halt production at some of its UK plants to save cash as a result of Greensill’s collapse. Its parent company, GFG Alliance, employs around 5,000 people in the UK and was one of Greensill’s largest borrowers.
The UK government has reportedly drawn up contingency plans to keep Liberty running on public cash until it can secure a buyer, if its parent company does not find new funds to replace Greensill’s loans, according to the Financial Times.
