A senior Cabinet Office official has admitted that Lex Greensill’s appointment to a role in Downing Street was a “screaming, glaring conflict of interest”.
Darren Tierney, director general of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office, told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) that the Australian financier’s exact role as an adviser was “unclear”.
Links between Greensill Capital, a firm which was founded by the financier, the Government and David Cameron have come under scrutiny amid controversy over the former prime minister’s lobbying on behalf of the firm.
The disclosures over Mr Cameron’s lobbying activities on behalf of Greensill – including sending texts to Chancellor Rishi Sunak – led to Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordering a review by the senior lawyer Nigel Boardman.
Don t show me this message again✕ (Brian Adcock)
R
arely has a public official said so little to so many. The newish cabinet secretary, Simon Case, cut a sorry figure when he appeared before the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee. Sorry in the sense that he must have apologised to the honourable members a couple of dozen times for saying nowt, but also sorry in the sense that his performance was pathetic.
Hiding behind various made-up precedents and a constitutionally dodgy procedure involving confidential briefings to the speaker of the House of Commons, Mr Case spent a lot of time telling the members of the House of Commons that he couldn’t help them understand why Downing Street, under his tutelage, is so dysfunctional and why, months on, the leak inquiry into the announcement of the second lockdown is still not completed.
By Press Association 2021
Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to Moreton farm in Clwyd near Wrexham, North Wales, as part of Welsh the Conservative Party s Senedd election campaign
Michael Gove has backed Boris Johnson after the Prime Minister allegedly said he was prepared to let “bodies pile high” rather than order another coronavirus lockdown.
The Cabinet Office minister said on Monday that he “never heard language of that kind” in the meeting where Mr Johnson ordered the second shutdown in England.
The Prime Minister was also forced to deny making the statement, saying the allegation was “total rubbish” as he faced questions about the bitter briefing war that has hit No 10.
Boris Johnson’s refurbishment of his Downing Street flat will be reviewed by the top civil servant amid suggestions the Conservative Party made an initial payment for the extensive work.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case said the Prime Minister asked him to look into the matter, after former aide Dominic Cummings said Mr Johnson wanted donors to “secretly pay” for the work in a move which would have been “unethical, foolish, possibly illegal”.
No 10 and the Tories declined to deny an ITV report on Monday stating that the Conservative Campaign Headquarters paid the Cabinet Office to cover initial costs of the refurbishments, with Mr Johnson now repaying the party.
By Press Association 2021
Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to Moreton farm in Clwyd near Wrexham, North Wales, as part of Welsh the Conservative Party s Senedd election campaign
Michael Gove has backed Boris Johnson after the Prime Minister allegedly said he was prepared to let “bodies pile high” rather than order another coronavirus lockdown.
The Cabinet Office minister said on Monday that he “never heard language of that kind” in the meeting where Mr Johnson ordered the second shutdown in England.
The Prime Minister was also forced to deny making the statement, saying the allegation was “total rubbish” as he faced questions about the bitter briefing war that has hit No 10.