London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 08, 2025

Sunak denies lobbying by Cameron swayed him on Greensill

Sunak denies lobbying by Cameron swayed him on Greensill

Chancellor says he spent only a little time considering former prime minister’s proposals
Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has denied giving special treatment to the now-collapsed bank Greensill Capital following an intensive lobbying campaign by former prime minister David Cameron.

Sunak repeatedly denied that he and his team were swayed by receiving 25 text messages, 12 WhatsApps, 11 phone calls and eight emails from Cameron lobbying on behalf of Greensill, the bank for which the former prime minister worked and in which he had an undisclosed multimillion pound equity stake.

The chancellor said the collapse of the bank could end up costing the taxpayer at least $8m (£5.5m) and possibly as much as $400m in other indirect costs. However, Lord Myners, the former City minister, has said the demise of the supply chain financing firm could cost taxpayers £5bn.

Sunak told MPs on parliament’s Treasury select committee on Thursday that he only spent “a very small amount of time” considering Cameron’s proposals and ultimately rejected Greensill’s request to be part of the Bank of England’s Covid corporate financing facility (CCFF) scheme.

“I looked at the issue on the merits of it, so the identity of the person talking about it was not relevant to the amount of attention and proper due diligence that the issue got and required,” Sunak said. “This was one of many strands of work, and in fact probably the one we spent the least time on during this period.”

However, Mel Stride, the committee’s Conservative chairman, told Sunak that his denials that he was swayed by being contacted by Cameron were not credible.

“It just doesn’t seem credible if it was a former prime minister pushing something as vigorously as he did, at the very highest level,” Stride said.

Sunak replied that Cameron’s lobbying on behalf of Greensill was considered only because “we were dealing with a financial crisis [for] small- to medium-sized businesses and this was a proposal that potentially addressed a segment of that market”.

The chancellor said receiving the messages from Cameron had come as a “surprise” as he was not friends with the former PM.

“I don’t know David Cameron very well at all and I don’t think I have spoken to him since I was a backbench MP and he was PM, so it was a surprise to receive the message,” he said.

In one of the messages, Cameron said to Sunak: “Rishi, David Cameron here. Can I have a very quick word at some point. HMT are refusing to extend CCFF to include supply chain finance … There is a simple misunderstanding that I can explain. Thanks DC.”

Asked if he would do things differently in future, Sunak said: “No, I don’t. As I said, I stand very firmly behind the approach we took.”

Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP on the committee, told Sunak she found it hard to believe that insistent lobbying from Cameron did not have an effect on his decision-making. She reeled off the list of messages including “25 texts, 12 WhatsApps, eight emails, 11 calls and nine meetings with senior ministers and officials”.

“Can you name me another company that got that amount of access at the height of the crisis?” she asked.

In text messages sent to Cameron, Sunak told the former prime minister that he had “pushed the team” at the Treasury to explore ways that Greensill could join the government’s Covid-19 loan support scheme. Sunak denied that this suggested he was putting pressure on Treasury or Bank of England officials to help Cameron and Greensill.

“It’s a really common phrase I would use on an almost daily or weekly basis, by talking about work that is being worked on in the department,” Sunak said. “It’s nothing more than a phrase.”

The Treasury’s two top civil servants also denied that Cameron’s lobbying resulted in preferential treatment for Greensill. Charles Roxburgh, the Treasury’s second permanent secretary, said the collapse could cost the government $8m and rejected Myners estimate of up to £5bn.

“I do not know how Lord Myners came up with that number, we don’t recognise it,” he said. “You will have to ask Lord Myners how he arrived at it.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×