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Heywood had spent some time away from Whitehall, working for a major bank, Morgan Stanley. One of his colleagues was Lex Greensill. Heywood found him to be impressive: a first-rate banker. Almost everyone would have concluded that if he passed Jeremy’s muster, he must have been very good indeed.
One of the issues which concerned Heywood was the supply of credit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who often hit cash-flow problems because their customers were slow in settling invoices. This was exacerbated by the banking crash of 2008/9. SMEs are a vital component of the British economy. For a range of reasons, principally technological change, large companies are unlikely to be net new employers of labour. So the UK is reliant on SMEs to create jobs.
In turn, SMEs cannot function without access to credit. Lex Greensill had been working on this throughout his career, which is why Heywood brought him into Whitehall. David Cameron was not involved in that decision and believes that while he was PM, he met Greensill no more than twice.
Was it appropriate for Greensill to have a 10 Downing Street business card, and who would have authorised it? The inquiry will no doubt consider that, but there is one obvious point. Lex Greensill had been brought in to get things done and a No. 10 card would have been an asset. The upcoming probe will presumably try to assess his efforts. But if he had not proved more than useful, it seems unlikely that his services would have been retained. Jeremy Heywood was likeable. He was also demanding.
Years later, after losing the EU referendum, David Cameron found himself in need of a new career when he was not yet 50. He took on a number of pro bono roles, dealing with Alzheimers, international development, seriously ill children, army veterans and national citizens’ service.
But he also wanted some commercial outlets. He could easily have picked up non-executive directorships – and even the odd chairmanship – of major City institutions. Bur he decided to be more adventurous. He was interested in futuristic areas, in particular bio-technology, artificial intelligence and financial technology (fintech). He was proud of the fact that, during his premiership, these had all been UK growth areas. He met Lex Greensill, was impressed by him and became a consultant, especially in relation to Greensill’s overseas activities. He was not a director and had no involvement in dealings with risk or credit.
On those areas, there seemed no grounds for anxiety. Greensill was heavily involved with Credit Suisse and General Atlantic. It dealt with a range of heavyweight companies, including Airbus, Ford, AstraZeneca and Vodafone. It seemed reasonable to suppose that Greensill’s operations had been scrutinised intensively by those responsible for due diligence.
Then came Covid. On the one hand, this made Greensill’s activities even more important. Up and down the land, thousands of SMEs had difficulties. Hundreds of thousands of jobs could have been at risk.
In March 2020, the Treasury set up the Covid corporate financing facility to bring succour to troubled businesses, as a matter of urgency. That urgency explains David Cameron’s decision to pick up the phone and talk directly to ministers. He now regrets that decision. His life would be easier if he had used more formal channels. But in those early pandemic days, it seemed reasonable to make haste.
At that stage, Cameron did not know the crisis was about to claim another victim. Greensill was over-extended. It had been insuring its bonds. Suddenly, that facility was withdrawn. Moreover, it provided financing to Sanjeev Gupta’s business empire: much more than he could repay. Cameron was not involved in that apparent failure of due diligence. Nor was anyone else sounding alarm bells.
Politics is a rough old trade. The Labour party cannot be blamed for setting its jackals in pursuit of a former Tory PM, nor for its wish to discredit Rishi Sunak. Keir Starmer and his team can recognise a dangerous foe. Labour MPs are happy to join in all this, because many of them instinctively believe that the City is riddled with malfeasance. Although they may pretend to be in favour of enterprise, in a large number of cases it is just that: pretence.
Cameron has one personal problem: an asset which sometimes becomes a liability. He is happy in his own skin. That was only true of a minority of modern PMs. In No. 10, it was an asset; he did not waste time agonising. But it can arouse resentment. Words like ‘entitlement’ are flung around.
In truth, David Cameron owes his successes to ability and hard work, resting on the secure foundation of a happy childhood. He does know how to enjoy life, but he has earned that right by his efforts, not by privilege. Yet a surprising number of people, including too many Tory MPs, are envious of tall poppies and like to snigger when they run into misfortune. That is really rather pathetic, especially from Tory MPs, who should know better.
David Cameron cannot wait for the inquiry. He will be happy to tell his story and answer all the questions. Why should he not be? He has done nothing wrong.
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Also by Bruce Anderson
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