Former UK Prime Minister Cameron has denied Greensill’s greed Business and Economic News

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he is not motivated by his economic interests on behalf of the financial company of the Greensill Capital supply chain, which collapsed when the UK government lobbied.

Cameron, who was in office from 2010 to 2016, has faced some damaging claims that former government colleagues were wrong to seek financial support from a London-based company at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Although Cameron’s great efforts did not result in policy change, they have raised profound questions about how much former UK leaders can use or how they can use their situation to influence government policy.

When he addressed a parliamentary committee on Thursday, once the head of the Conservative Party did not say how much Greensill paid or how much he would have earned if the business had progressed with owned shares.

However, he admitted that he had “a huge economic investment” in the future and wanted the business to succeed.

“They paid me the annual amount, a generous amount a year, much more than what I earned as prime minister,” Cameron told the House of Commons Inter-Party Finance Committee.

When he left office in 2016, Cameron was entitled to pay just over £ 150,000 ($ 210,680).

Asked if he was afraid of losing the monetary gains that prompted him to contact the ministers, Cameron said: “That was not what I felt at the time, and it is not what motivated me.”

In the early stages of the pension, Greensill said he was motivated and believed in his ability to help other businesses and the country.

The company’s explosion threatens about 50,000 jobs in companies around the world based on financing for supply chains.

‘Painful day’

Cameron has repeatedly contacted top ministers for four months in 2020 to put pressure on Greensill, created by Australian banker Lex Greensill in 2011 and asked for bankruptcy protection in March, documents released by the Finance Committee on Tuesday.

Cameron and his office staff sent 45 emails, texts and WhatsApp messages to ministers and officials, avoiding official channels, the documents show.

Cameron said he initially did not hire Greensill as a lobby, but that changed the situation early in the pandemic. At a time when there was pressure from ministers, Cameron said it made no sense that Greensill was in trouble.

“I didn’t think in March or April, when I was making this contact, there was a risk of Greensill falling,” he said.

Cameron said he believes the use of text and WhatsApp messages was appropriate given the severity of the COVID-19 crisis, but that different rules may apply in the future.

“One of the lessons I’ve learned is that former prime ministers should only use the letter or email and limit it a lot more,” he said.

He added that it is difficult to deal with the parliamentary scrutiny of the fall of Greensill.

“It’s a painful day, a day to return to the place I love and respect so much, even if it’s almost virtual, but in these circumstances,” Cameron said.

“The pressure itself is a necessary and healthy part of our democratic process, but I accept that being a former prime minister on behalf of any commercial interests, regardless of motive and laudable cause, can be open to arguing misinterpretation.”

The Bank of England said in April that as a result of communication between Cameron and BoE officials, no changes had been made to the Covid Corporate Financing Facility facility.

Current British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last month commissioned a senior lawyer to investigate the company’s lobbying efforts.

Greensill, 44, appeared before the Finance Committee on Tuesday and claimed he had taken “full responsibility” for the company’s collapse, but denied it because of links to the UK government lobby.

He told the commission that when he hired the company Cameron, he was “thinking about how we could develop and expand our brand as a company.”