The Government’s links with collapsed finance firm Greensill Capital are to come under further scrutiny as ministers continue to face questions over David Cameron’s lobbying activities.
The head of the watchdog which exposed the way the former head of government procurement was able to take a position as a part time adviser to the firm while still in Whitehall is to appear before MPs.
Lord Pickles, the chairman of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) will give evidence on Thursday to the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) amid “acute concern” at the latest developments.
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David Cameron has indicated he is prepared to give evidence to MPs on the Greensill lobbying scandal as the government continues to face questions over links to the now collapsed financial firm and the “revolving door” with businesses.
It comes after the Treasury Select Committee announced on Wednesday it would mount an inquiry separate to the one launched by Boris Johnson’s government which is expected to investigate ministers’ responses to the lobbying by the former Tory prime minister.
Mr Cameron, who joined Greensill Capital in a paid role as special adviser in 2018, two years after leaving No 10, was found to have sent text messages and emails to ministers, including the chancellor Rishi Sunak, in an effort to exert influence within government.
By Press Association 2021
David Cameron makes a speech outside 10 Downing Street in London, before leaving for Buckingham Palace to resign as prime minister (PA)
A powerful Commons committee will investigate the collapse of Greensill Capital and the way Rishi Sunak’s Treasury responded to lobbying for the firm by David Cameron.
The announcement of an investigation by the cross-party Treasury Committee, which will officially launch next week, came after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hit out at “Tory sleaze” over the controversy.
Another probe could be launched by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee after its chairman, Tory MP William Wragg, described Mr Cameron’s lobbying for the collapsed lender as “tasteless, slapdash and unbecoming”.
The public should be given a “full and frank” explanation as to how a top civil servant was allowed to work as a part-time adviser at Greensill Capital while still in Whitehall, according to Lord Pickles.
The chairman of the committee which vets the appointment of senior ministers and officials told MPs the Bill Crothers case highlighted “a number of anomalies within the system”, and that his was not an “isolated” situation.
Mr Crothers, a former head of Government procurement, began working for collapsed firm Greensill as a part-time adviser to the board in September 2015 – in a move approved by the Cabinet Office – and did not leave his Civil Service role until November that year.