The controversy continues to swell across the Channel. The British government announced on Monday April 12 that it had ordered an independent investigation into the lobbying carried out by ex-Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron for the benefit of the bankrupt financial firm Greensill, which he had joined in 2018 as special adviser .
After weeks of silence and the revelations of Financial Times and Sunday Times on the very interested relations that the ex-manager maintained with the financier Lex Greensill – whose company Greensill Capital has just declared bankruptcy, endangering thousands of jobs in European steel -, Mr. Cameron admitted Sunday to having made errors but assured not to have violated “No code of conduct or government rule”. It has emerged that Mr Cameron has given Mr Greensill unqualified access to Downing Street from 2011 onwards.
This investigation, commissioned by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on behalf of “Public interest” and entrusted to a legal expert, will examine how the contracts were obtained by Greensill and “How business representatives got in touch with the government”, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
Greensill Capital, which specializes in short-term loans, filed for bankruptcy in early March, endangering some of its clients, such as billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s steel empire, GFG Alliance. Its fall shook the British political class because of the role played by David Cameron for the benefit of the company, created by the Australian banker Lex Greensill.
Contacts with government officials
The latter had been hired in Downing Street when Mr Cameron headed the government (2010-2016) and the British press noted contracts obtained by his company then through policies that he had helped to put in place. He was notably accused of contacts with members of the government, including the current Minister of Finance, Rishi Sunak, in favor of Greensill or the Minister of Health, Matt Hancock.
“I recognize, as a former Prime Minister, that communications with the government must take place exclusively through the most formal channels, so that there is no room for misinterpretation”David Cameron said in a statement Sunday. Faced with the questioning, the Ministry of Finance published several messages sent last April by Rishi Sunak to Mr. Cameron, where he said in particular to have “Pushed his team” to consider a request from Mr. Cameron.
A parliamentary lobbying oversight body ruled that the former prime minister did not break any rules by contacting a minister or senior officials directly. Greensill had been approved to issue state-guaranteed government loans under the Large Business Program. Its fall puts GFG Alliance on the verge of insolvency, which employs 5,000 people in the United Kingdom and 35,000 others worldwide, with sites in France such as the Ascoval steelworks in Saint-Saulve (North) and the Hayange rail factory (Moselle).