'Lessons to be learned' over UK lobbying row: ex-PM Cameron


Britain's former prime minister David Cameron, under fire for having sought government help for a finance firm he represented, acknowledged Sunday that he should have gone through formal channels.

But he stressed that he had not broken any rules nor any code of conduct.

The affair has also led finance minister Rishi Sunak to defend himself against suggestions he broke ministerial rules by exploring state help for bankrupt finance company Greensill at Cameron's request.

"In my representations to Government, I was breaking no codes of conduct and no government rules," said Cameron in his statement Sunday.

His lobbying efforts had been unsuccessful and had not led to a change in government policy, he pointed out.

But he added: "However, I have reflected on this at length. There are important lessons to be learnt.

"As a former prime minister, I accept that communications with government need to be done through only the most formal of channels, so there can be no room for misinterpretation."

The collapse last month of British company Greensill sparked panic and threatened 50,000 jobs, in particular at the sprawling steel empire of Indian-British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta.

Greensill specialised in short-term corporate loans via a complex and opaque business model. According to the Treasury, Greensill approached officials to gain access to the government's emergency Covid Corporate Finance Facility (CCFF).

Sunak's exchanges with Cameron were revealed following an official request from lawmaker Anneliese Dodds, finance spokeswoman for the main opposition Labour party.

In March Cameron, the former Conservative Party who led Britain between 2010 and 2016, was exonerated by Britain's lobbying watchdog over his Greensill links.

The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists ruled that Cameron was a Greensill employee and was therefore not required to declare himself on the register of consultant lobbyists.

gmo/jj/har

Related Businesses
    - - Customer
    Copyright © 2024 by CreditRiskMonitor.com (Ticker: CRMZ®). All rights reserved.  You are not permitted to use this report or the information contained herein for any purpose not expressly permitted by CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. Except as expressly permitted by CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc., you are not permitted, in whole or in part, to copy, alter, correct, adapt, translate, enhance, lease, sell, sublicense, assign, distribute, publish, otherwise make available to any third party, or prepare derivative works or improvements of this report or any of the information contained therein. You are not permitted to reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile, decode, or adapt the software, algorithms or other processes used to prepare this report, or otherwise attempt to derive or gain access to the source code of same. You agree not to remove, alter, obscure, combine or otherwise change any disclaimers, trademarks, copyrights, other intellectual property rights, proprietary rights, or other symbols, notices, marks, or serial numbers on or relating to any copy of the report or on marketing or other materials that CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. may provide to you. You will not use this report in any manner or for any purpose that infringes, misappropriates, or otherwise violates any right of any party, or that violates any applicable law.  
    The FRISK® scores, agency ratings, credit limit recommendations and other scores, analysis and commentary are opinions of CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. and/or its suppliers, not statements of fact, and should be one of several factors in making credit decisions.  Any reliance you place on the information in this report is strictly at your own risk. Except as expressly provided by CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc., no warranties or representations of any type, including without limitation of results to be obtained, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, are made concerning any part of CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc.’s service, including without limitation the FRISK® scores.  The information published above has been obtained from sources CreditRiskMonitor considers to be reliable.  CreditRiskMonitor.com, Inc. and its third-party suppliers do not guarantee or validate the accuracy and completeness of the information provided in this report, the underlying information input to create the FRISK® scores, and specifically do not assume responsibility for not reporting any information omitted or withheld.  By using this website, you accept the Terms of Use Agreement. 
    Contact Us: 845.230.3000
    Fundamental financial data concerning public companies may be provided by Refinitiv (click for restrictions)
    Thursday, April 18, 2024