Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is facing questions over the collapse of Greensill Capital, after releasing phone and email messages showing his intensive lobbying efforts on behalf of the firm.
Under early questioning, Cameron denied being motivated by personal gain when he sent top government ministers and officials at the Bank of England text messages and emails in a bid to persuade them to include Greensill in a program of state-backed lending.
He is giving oral evidence to the Treasury committee and the public accounts committee, two senior panels of lawmakers that are investigating the failure of Greensill, which has now put thousands of U.K. jobs at risk.
Cameron was questioned why he finished a text message to Tom Scholar, a top Treasury official who was his former aide, with the sign-off “Love Dc”.
He replied that “anyone I know at all well” receives the sign-off. “I don’t know why; I just do,” Cameron said. “My children tell me I don’t need to sign of text messages at all.”
Cameron also said he met Scholar for drinks a “couple of times” since leaving office.
Cameron Earned More at Greensill Than as PM (3:00 p.m.)
Greensill paid Cameron “far more” than he earned as U.K. prime minister, he told the committee, acknowledging that he held shares in the company. But he also dismissed as “completely absurd” reports that his interest totaled 60 million pounds ($84 million).
“I wanted this business to succeed,” he said. “I was being paid, I had shares, I had an interest in it.”
Asked about his assiduous lobbying for access to one of the Bank of England’s Covid relief schemes in the first half of 2020, Cameron said personal interest “was not what motivated me.”
Cameron Says Greensill Not in Jeopardy at Start of Pandemic (2:45 p.m.)
Lawmakers are now questioning Cameron. He insisted that at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Greensill was in a good financial position. He has previously said that the first he knew of difficulties was in December 2020.
“There was no sense of jeopardy” at the outset of the pandemic, Cameron said. “Greensill had a successful 2019, it was set to have a successful 2020.”
“I wanted this business to succeed,” he said. “I was paid an annual amount, a generous amount, much more than I was paid as prime minister.”
Cameron Makes Contrite Opening Statement (2:35 p.m.)
Cameron opens his testimony with a statement, saying that this session marks a “painful” return to Parliament, which he cals as “a place that I love and respect so much.” Cameron explained his motivations in working for Greensill, and stressed that he abided by all the rules in place on lobbying.
“But rules alone are never enough. We learned that in this place there are so many issues, personal conduct and codes of behavior and how such conduct and behavior appears and can be perceived, these things matter too,” he said. ”I believe there are important lessons to be learned,” Cameron added.“I completely accept that former prime ministers are in a different position to others because of the office that we held, and the influence that continues to bring.”
