Taxpayers footed £2million invoice for failed agency that paid David Cameron tens of millions

David Cameron has been advised to declare how a lot earned from Greensill Capital because it emerged taxpayers footed a £2million redundancies invoice when it went bust.

The Foreign Secretary is reported to have been paid tens of millions of kilos to work to advise the finance agency earlier than it collapsed in 2021.

In a letter to the Cabinet minister, Labour MP Nick Smith known as on him to substantiate “in the interests of transparency” how a lot he acquired. He wrote: “I have ascertained that taxpayers have had to pay out £2,008,557 [in redundancy payments] after the company collapsed on 12 March 2021. You may remember that approximately 277 employees of Greensill were laid off without any notice via [a] Zoom call.”

Mr Smith, who’s Shadow Deputy Commons Leader, added: “You have previously informed the Treasury Select Committee that you were told by Mr Lex Greensill in a telephone conversation in December 2020 that Greensill had “serious financial difficulties’. Can you please say what you were told by Mr Greensill about these difficulties?” He went on: “Did you receive any remuneration from Greensill Capital after December 2020?”

Mr Cameron’s work for Greensill noticed him go on a desert tenting journey with Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Bin Salman simply months after he was accused of ordering the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In 2020, he unsuccessfully tried to influence the Government to permit Greensill to get its arms on Covid money. The Treasury Select Committee discovered he had proven a “significant lack of judgement” by lobbying ministers for the agency through which he had a monetary curiosity, together with sending 9 WhatsApp messages to Mr Sunak who was Chancellor.

BBC Panorama beforehand claimed Mr Cameron made greater than £7million from Greensill Capital earlier than it collapsed – though he insisted the determine was incorrect. The former PM disputed a report made by the programme, insisting he “did not receive anything like the figures quoted by Panorama”. But he refused to reveal how a lot he did receives a commission, saying it was a “private matter”.

Mr Cameron started his function as an adviser to Greensill in August 2018, simply over two years after he resigned as prime minister in July 2016. The agency’s founder, Lex Greensill, suggested the Government throughout Mr Cameron’s time in No10 however he denied he had been provided a job whereas in workplace.

When he was appointed final month, Lord Cameron dismissed criticism of his former function at Greensill, saying: “As far as I am concerned, that is all dealt with and in the past. I now have one job, as Britain’s Foreign Secretary.”

A spokesman for him beforehand mentioned: “David Cameron deeply regrets that Greensill went into administration and is desperately sorry for those who have lost their jobs. As he was neither a director of the company, nor involved in any lending decisions, he has no special insight into what ultimately happened. He acted in good faith at all times, and there was no wrongdoing in any of the actions he took.

“He made the representations he did to the UK Government not just because he thought it would benefit the company, but because he sincerely believed there would be a material benefit for UK businesses at a challenging time. He had no idea until December 2020 that the company was in danger of failure.”