Greensill: Probe launched into firm David Cameron lobbied government for Covid contracts

The firm, which former Tory prime minister David Cameron unsuccessfully lobbied current UK Government ministers for coronavirus contracts, filed for administration in March after insurers refused to renew contracts covering its loans to companies like Liberty, which employs about 5000 people in the UK.

Downing Street announced that lawyer Nigel Boardman will lead the probe, which will examine how government contracts were secured by the company and the actions of Cameron.

The former prime minister, who was in Downing Street from 2010-16, broke his weeks silence on the issue on Sunday with a statement saying that he should have communicated with the Government “through only the most formal of channels” rather than text messages to Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Johnson called for the independent review to be launched into Greensill due to “significant interest” in the matter, according to a Downing Street spokesperson.

The spokesperson told a Westminster briefing: “The Cabinet Office is commissioning an independent review on behalf of the Prime Minister, to establish the development and use of supply chain finance and associated activities in government, and the role Greensill played in those.

​READ MORE: 'I broke no rules': David Cameron speaks on lobbying scandal after weeks of silence

“As you know, there is significant interest in this matter, so the Prime Minister has called for the review to ensure government is completely transparent about such activities and that the public can see for themselves if good value was secured for taxpayers’ money.

“This independent review will also look at how contracts were secured and how business representatives engaged with government.”

Leading the inquiry will be legal expert Boardman, a non-executive board member of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who has previously conducted a review of Cabinet Office procurement processes.

Downing Street said Boardman will have “access to the documents that he needs” in his probe, which the Prime Minister wants to be completed “thoroughly” and “promptly”, according to his spokesman.

Boardman has been described as "an establishment figure" by the director of the Good Law Project, Jo Maugham, whose group led a legal challenge against the Government into the delayed reporting of Covid contracts.

Maugham tweeted: "He is clearly an establishment figure - but if you wanted a whitewash he's not the obvious appointee.

"If you wanted someone who was prepared to speak clearly of what has gone wrong (I think) you'd be unlikely to choose Boardman. But my sense of him is that, in a very British establishment way, he is a serious figure and independently minded."

If you wanted someone who was prepared to speak clearly of what has gone wrong (I think) you'd be unlikely to choose Boardman. But my sense of him is that, in a very British establishment way, he is a serious figure and independently minded.

— Jo Maugham (@JolyonMaugham) April 12, 2021

A spokesperson for Cameron said he welcomes the inquiry and "will be glad to take part".

However, Labour said the inquiry risks kicking the issue into the “long grass”.

Shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rachel Reeves said: “This has all the hallmarks of another cover-up by the Conservatives.

“Just as with the inquiry into Priti Patel’s alleged bullying, this is another Conservative Government attempt to push bad behaviour into the long grass and hope the British public forgets.

“We need answers on Greensill now – that means key players in this cronyism scandal like David Cameron, Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock appearing openly in front of Parliament as soon as possible to answer questions.”

READ MORE: Kirsty Strickland: David Cameron isn’t the only one with questions to answer

The Opposition will seek to maintain pressure on the Government over the issue on Tuesday when a minister will be forced to respond to an urgent question from shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds on the issue.

The scandal emerged after it was reported that Cameron had pushed senior government officials to give Greensill Capital access to emergency Covid loans months before the lender collapsed.

As well as private texts to Sunak, it was later revealed that Cameron had arranged a “private drink” between Health Secretary Matt Hancock (above) and the founder of the firm, Lex Greensill, to discuss a payment scheme later rolled out in the NHS.

In his statement on the issue of lobbying the Government, Cameron said: “In my representations to Government, I was breaking no codes of conduct and no Government rules.”

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He said that “ultimately” the outcome of his efforts to get Greensill’s proposals included in the Government’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) was that “they were not taken up”.

“So I complied with the rules and my interventions did not lead to a change in the Government’s approach to the CCFF,” he added.

“However, I have reflected on this at length. There are important lessons to be learnt.

“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.”

The former Tory prime minister had reportedly told friends he stood to make as much as $60 million (approximately £44m) should Greensill be listed on the stock exchange.