Greensill controversy proves Cameron’s lobbying law was NOT about restricting lobbyists
Cameron: we used to joke about him often having spit dribbling down his chin – maybe he was salivating at the thought of all the money he was (allegedly) lining up for himself post-premiership.
Remember the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act that David Cameron forced on us, back in 2014?
Some of us called it the “Gagging Act” because we knew it was about preventing some organisations and individuals from having a voice in Westminster.
You see, the remit of the lobbying and non-party campaigning part of the act was extremely narrow.
Of course, this meant it also allowed others to carry on bending the ears of government ministers, and I seem to recall that concerns were raised about high-level MPs receiving payoffs from these people in return for privileged access…
…Or indeed, taking jobs for these people – as seems to be the case with former Prime Minister David Cameron.
We need to get our ducks in the right row here, though: Lex Greensill, of financial services firm Greensill Capital, is alleged to have been afforded privileged access to government departments in 2012, two years before the Lobbying Act became law. That would not have been illegal at the time – would it?
Apparently Greensill had been promoting a financial product for pharmacists – The Pharmacy Early Payment Scheme, announced in 2012, that saw banks swiftly reimburse pharmacists for providing NHS prescriptions, for a fee, before recovering the money from the government.
Greensill Capital went on to provide funds for the scheme.
It was later accredited to supply lending under the government’s Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), before Greensill went bust.
The dodgy part is Cameron’s role. He would have been responsible for giving Greensill privileged access in 2012.
He would have been able to ensure that the 2014 law did not affect that privileged position – by narrowing criteria to make sure that Greensill didn’t have to appear on the register of lobbyists, perhaps.
He definitely joined Greensill – as a lobbyist – in 2018 and lobbied on behalf of that firm. The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, investigating, has ruled that Cameron’s activities did not fall within the criteria that required him to be registered as one – according to rules laid out in Cameron’s 2014 Lobbying law.
It looks very much like Cameron rigged the law to make it possible for him to feather his own nest. That would be a serious case of corruption, of course.
He certainly seems to have blocked rules that would now apply to him.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out.
Source: Lex Greensill: Labour questions ex-adviser’s No 10 business card – BBC News
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