Controversial financier Lex Greensill’s multi-million pound plan to create a wildlife sanctuary at the end of his garden has been blocked by councillors worried that he won’t have enough cash to complete it. The Aussie-born tycoon at the centre of the David Cameron lobbying scandal said it was his ‘dream’ to make a 500-acre wildlife … Read more
The lobbying row escalated again today as it emerged another Cabinet Office adviser appointed by David Cameron was working for Greensill. David Brierwood combined a role as a crown representative in the Cabinet Office with being a director at Greensill for three and a half years. The Cabinet Office stressed Mr Brierwood’s role was nothing … Read more
Boris Johnson’s claim that he didn’t meddle in a Saudi bid to buy a top English football team was in doubt last night after it emerged he said ‘brilliant’ when told the deal was set to go ahead. The Prime Minister’s jubilant response was to a Downing Street aide who he had asked to intervene … Read more
There do not seem to have been ‘any boundaries at all’ in government ties to business and ‘excuses’ are being used to avoid checks, a watchdog warned today. Lord Pickles, head of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, delivered a damning assessment of the revolving door between Whitehall and the private sector. He said he was … Read more
God give me strength, fella – Keir Starmer is a Line of Duty devotee! HENRY DEEDES on PMQs, Greensill and the Labour leader’s boy band haircut By Henry Deedes for the Daily Mail Published: 23:17 BST, 14 April 2021 | Updated: 09:57 BST, 15 April 2021 Mother of God! PMQs had gone all Line of … Read more
David Cameron has suggested he will give evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into the Greensill lobbying storm. A spokesman for the former prime minister said he will ‘respond positively’ to any request from MPs. He said: ‘David Cameron will respond positively to all such requests when the terms of reference of each inquiry are made … Read more
A second of David Cameron‘s mandarins was allowed to work for both business and Whitehall at the same time, it emerged last night. Sir John Manzoni kept his £100,000 directorship with drinks giant SABMiller after he was appointed chief executive of the Civil Service. The revelation came as the country’s top civil servant demanded to … Read more
Britain’s top mandarin has warned high-level Whitehall officials should not have second jobs because it threatens the ‘integrity and impartiality’ of the civil service as he ordered a crackdown on mandarins with ‘problematic’ external paid roles amid the David Cameron lobbying scandal. Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, formerly private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge, yesterday … Read more
Britain’s top mandarin has warned high-level Whitehall officials should not have second jobs because it threatens the ‘integrity and impartiality’ of the civil service as he ordered a crackdown on mandarins with ‘problematic’ external paid roles amid the David Cameron lobbying scandal. Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, formerly private secretary to the Duke of Cambridge, yesterday … Read more
A second of David Cameron‘s mandarins was allowed to work for both business and Whitehall at the same time, it emerged last night. Sir John Manzoni kept his £100,000 directorship with drinks giant SABMiller after he was appointed chief executive of the Civil Service. The revelation came as the country’s top civil servant demanded to … Read more