London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Cameron lobbied UK government on behalf of Greensill Capital

Cameron lobbied UK government on behalf of Greensill Capital

Former prime minister approached Treasury and Downing Street to gain financial firm access to Covid loans
The former prime minister David Cameron reportedly lobbied senior government officials to give Greensill Capital special access to the largest available tranche of emergency Covid loans just months before the lender collapsed.

Cameron, who was an adviser and shareholder in Greensill, is said to have contacted former colleagues to try to help the supply chain finance firm tap cheap, 100% government-backed loans through the Covid corporate financing facility (CCFF).

By borrowing money via the CCFF, Greensill would have been able to lend more money to its borrowers – including one of its largest clients, the metals magnate and Liberty Steel-owner Sanjeev Gupta.

Liberty, the UK’s third-largest steelmaker, has been forced to pause production at some of its UK plants to conserve cash in the wake of Greensill’s collapse. Its parent company, GFG Alliance, employs about 5,000 people in the UK.

But granting Greensill access to the CCFF would have meant bending the rules for the doomed finance firm.

Greensill representatives tried to make its case to two of the Treasury’s most senior officials, who held 10 virtual meetings with the firm between March and June last year, according to the Financial Times.

When officials resisted, Greensill claimed that “concerns about their eligibility for the CCFF were misplaced or could be addressed”, the paper said, citing records released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Cameron later stepped in, approaching the Treasury and 10 Downing Street via his personal email and at least one phone call, according to FT sources. Cameron’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CCFF loans, which are doled out by the Bank of England on behalf of the Treasury, are aimed at helping the UK’s largest companies weather the pandemic. Crucially, the rules in effect bar lenders such as Greensill taking part by stating that only “non-financial firms” can take part.

Borrowers – which have included Rolls-Royce, Honda, British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair – are meant to apply directly to the central bank rather than through an intermediary lender such as Greensill. The loans are also restricted to firms with a strong investment-grade credit rating that make a “material” contribution to the UK.

Greensill was accredited as an intermediary lender for the second-largest scheme – known as the coronaviruslargebusiness interruption loan scheme, which came with an 80% government guarantee – last year.

However, supply chain finance firms such as Greensill were only allowed to issue individual loans worth up to £50m to each borrower. When the firm was denied access to the CCFF, its Australian founder, Lex Greensill, asked ministers for permission to write loans worth up to £200m, in line with other lenders such as Barclays.

That request was reportedly denied by Treasury officials, who said it would represent a “significant exposure”, the FT said.

It emerged earlier this month that the British Business Bank, which administers the bulk of the emergency Covid loan schemes, revoked Greensill’s government guarantee, leaving the firm, rather than the UK taxpayer, on the hook for any customer defaults.

Labour is now calling for an investigation into Cameron and Greensill’s alleged lobbying efforts.

The shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, said: “These revelations raise extremely serious questions about the chancellor’s priorities in the middle of a pandemic. The government must leave no stone unturned with a full and thorough investigation into this.

“Taxpayers and businesses deserve answers about why it appears Greensill was given so much access to the Treasury at a time when the chancellor was refusing to engage with groups representing the millions of people he excluded from wage support.

“The chancellor must urgently set the record straight.”

A Treasury spokesperson said: “Treasury officials regularly meet with stakeholders to discuss our economic response to Covid.

“The meetings in question were primarily about broadening the scope of CCFF to enable access for providers of supply chain finance, which – following a call for evidence and discussions with several other firms within the sector – we decided against and informed the businesses concerned.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×