One of David Cameron’s top civil servants was allowed to work for Greensill while in Whitehall
David Cameron lobbying scandal heats up as it emerges top civil servant was allowed to work for finance company at centre of the row while still in Whitehall… and former PM is pictured with firm’s boss on Saudi trip
- Bill Crothers was Government procurement head while a Greensill board adviser
- When he quit to work for the lender full-time he did not have to ask for approval
- He later received shares that could have been worth more than £5million
- It comes as the lobbying scandal around David Cameron continues to grow
One of David Cameron‘s top officials was allowed to work for controversial firm Greensill Capital while still a civil servant.
Bill Crothers spent several months as Government procurement head and a Greensill board adviser, it emerged last night.
The extraordinary arrangement meant when he quit to work for the lender full-time he did not have to ask approval from the watchdog that monitors the revolving door between Whitehall and business.
Sipping tea in front of an open fire, this is the first picture of David Cameron and Lex Greensill on their ‘desert camping trip’ to Saudi Arabia
Bill Crothers (pictured right) spent several months as Government procurement head and a Greensill board adviser
He later received shares that could have been worth more than £5million. Boris Johnson is understood to be concerned about the highly unusual dual role agreed by the Cabinet Office. It was revealed in official correspondence yesterday as the lobbying scandal around the former prime minister grew.
Mr Johnson pledged that a Greensill investigation he launched this week will have ‘carte blanche’ – but dodged claims he was just trying to take revenge on his long-standing Tory rival Mr Cameron. The House of Commons will today decide if an independent parliamentary inquiry should also be held into the Greensill affair, in a vote forced by Labour. In other developments:
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed he went for a ‘social’ drink with Mr Cameron and his financier boss Lex Greensill;
- Russian oligarch Tory donor Alexander Temerko backed the former PM.
The scandal began last month when it was revealed Mr Cameron, a paid part-time adviser to Greensill since 2018, lobbied ministers and officials last year to let the firm gain access to the Bank of England’s huge Covid loan scheme.
But in recent weeks more details have emerged of the previously unknown links between Greensill and Government when Mr Cameron was in No10, with financier Mr Greensill even given Downing Street business cards.
Cameron and financier chum in Saudi desert
Sipping tea in front of an open fire, this is the first picture of David Cameron and Lex Greensill on their ‘desert camping trip’ to Saudi Arabia.
They are wearing business suits and appear to be reclining on luxurious floor cushions inside a tent in the photograph obtained by the Wall Street Journal newspaper.
David Cameron and Lex Greensill in Saudi Arabia
Greensill Capital was planning to open an office in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, at the time of the trip in January 2020. The former PM and his friend met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – who was accused of approving the brutal 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr Greensill is said to have later boasted that they went ‘camping in the desert’ and he bonded with the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia under the night sky, because they had both studied law at university.
Mr Cameron insisted he raised human rights concerns with the Crown Prince during the trip.
He said in his statement on the affair: ‘While visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in January 2020 to advise on their forthcoming chairmanship of the G20, I also – with Lex Greensill – met with a range of business and political leaders, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
‘As the Softbank Vision Fund was by this time the largest investor in Greensill, the company was, in effect, part-owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
‘Greensill planned to open a new regional office in Riyadh as part of its international expansion and I wanted to assist in this effort.
‘While in Saudi Arabia, I took the opportunity to raise concerns about human rights, as I always did when meeting the Saudi leadership when I was prime minister.’
Yesterday correspondence was published showing how senior civil servant Mr Crothers was involved in this close relationship. He had been the Government’s Chief Commercial Officer inside the Cabinet Office, responsible for overseeing an estimated £40billion of taxpayers’ money, from April 2012.
Then in September 2015 he was given permission to become an adviser to Greensill’s board, while still in the civil service.
The unheard-of joint role meant that when he left Whitehall in November that year, he did not have to seek approval from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA).
Mr Crothers wrote in a letter published by the watchdog: ‘I was given approval to take up a part-time board advisory role with Greensill Capital starting from September 2015, whilst employed as a civil servant.
‘At that time Greensill was a small business, 30 or 40 employees, which did not conduct any business with UK Government.
‘The approval was to be a board adviser, attending board meetings, with the role developing, discussed as becoming a director.’
He went on: ‘I then left the Cabinet Office and the Civil Service in November 2015. I again sought advice and was told that as I was already working in an advisory capacity to Greensill before I left the Civil Service, with that role captured under the conflicts of interest policy, no BARs [business appointment rules] application was required to be submitted to ACOBA.’
Mr Crothers said the part-time role took up one day a month but he had been given approval to work ‘up to a day a week’.
He insisted: ‘It was seen as a way of me transitioning back into the private sector and was supported by the Cabinet Office leadership. This advisory role was not seen as contentious, and I believe not uncommon.’
It is thought the move would have been approved by the Cabinet Secretary at the time, Sir Jeremy Heywood, who had originally brought young Australian banker Mr Greensill into Government in 2011, or the then-Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary John Manzoni.
In 2016 Mr Crothers became a director of Greensill Capital, and went on to hold 3,653 shares, according to financial reports, which could have been worth as much as £5.7million when the company was highly valued in the City. But it went bust last month and the shares are now worthless.
Mr Crothers went on to have at least five meetings with Whitehall officials on behalf of Greensill.
ACOBA chairman Lord Pickles wrote to the Cabinet Office yesterday requesting its guidance on conflicts of interest. He wrote: ‘The lack of transparency around this part-time employment with Greensill may have left the misleading impression that Mr Crothers had wilfully ignored the obligation to seek advice.’
Lord Pickles called for the Cabinet Office to publish ‘historic and current numbers of individuals’ given approval for dual roles as well as a register of interests.
The probe into the Greensill scandal to be carried out by City lawyer Nigel Boardman by June will look into dual roles such as that carried out by Mr Crothers as well as lobbying by Mr Cameron.
Speaking about the inquiry for the first time yesterday, the Prime Minister told broadcasters he had given Mr Boardman ‘pretty much carte blanche to ask anybody whatever he needs to find out’.
Boris Johnson is understood to be concerned about the highly unusual dual role agreed by the Cabinet Office
He added: I would like it to be done quickly, but I want him to have the maximum possible access so we can all understand exactly what has happened, and that will of course be presented to Parliament in due course.’
Asked if he was looking to ‘rough up a rival’ in the form of Mr Cameron by launching the inquiry, the PM replied: ‘I think people have got questions they need to satisfy themselves about – including me – about how this supply chain finance stuff is meant to work.’
In the Commons, MPs demanded answers on how Greensill had obtained an estimated £200million in Covid loans under a Government scheme, as well as a series of meetings with senior civil servants as it sought access to even more cash.
Labour’s Wes Streeting said: ‘A few texts from ‘dodgy Dave’ and Greensill got ten meetings and a ream of correspondence with senior Treasury officials, the type of access that most businesses in this country could only dream of.’
Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves said: ‘This is an extraordinary and shocking revelation. The Conservatives have weakened the rules so much they may as well rip them up and start again. They must be kidding themselves if they think the current checks and measures they’ve got in place are working.
‘They need to strengthen rules now and get everything about the Greensill scandal out in the open with a proper Parliamentary inquiry.’
Today Labour will call for the establishment of a new independent ‘Investigation into Lobbying of Government Committee’, consisting of 16 MPs, fearing the Government-commissioned probe will be a whitewash.
Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, who served under Mr Cameron, became the latest to speak out against his lobbying last night.
‘If you have been a minister of the crown and you have held high office then, I think, to turn oneself into a paid lobbyist is an unfortunate thing to do,’ he told Channel 4 News.
‘The public are increasingly cynical about the way politicians behave about allegations of corruption and cronyism in government, and the perception that there are lots of private channels which are being exploited.’
Mr Cameron, who will co-operate with the inquiry into his lobbying, has insisted that he broke no rules or codes of conduct.
Last night the Cabinet Office said of Mr Crothers’ dual role: ‘The Boardman review into Greensill Capital and supply chain finance will be wide-ranging and will also consider the issues raised so the public can judge whether they were appropriately handled at the time.’
