Greensill scandal

David Cameron

Lord Heywood

Former Prime Minister David Cameron and former Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood, who were both implicated in the scandal.

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The Greensill scandal is a political controversy in the United Kingdom related to lobbying activities on behalf of financial services company Greensill Capital. It implicated former Prime Minister David Cameron, former Cabinet Secretary Lord Heywood and several other civil servants, and occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

First reported by the Financial Times and The Sunday Times,^[1] it arose from the insolvency of the supply chain financing firm Greensill Capital in March 2021, first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Reports emerged that Cameron had lobbied former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in 2020 to change rules in order to allow Greensill to join the Covid Corporate Financing Facility, a government loan scheme that was initiated to support companies during the pandemic-related economic recession.

A Cabinet Office inquiry found Lord Heywood to be primarily responsible for Lex Greensill's being given a role in government and access into 10 Downing Street. That inquiry and two other separate official inquiries found that Cameron had not broken any lobbying rules or acted unlawfully in relation to his Greensill lobbying activities, although a Treasury committee report said in finding he did not break lobbying rules “that reflects on the insufficient strength of the rules”.^[2]