Cameron refuses three times on BBC's Laura Kuenssberg to disclose Greensill pay

14 January 2024 , 11:17

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Cameron refuses three times on BBC's Laura Kuenssberg to disclose Greensill pay

David Cameron has repeatedly refused to say how much he earned from his work for failed firm Greensill Capital after stepping down as Prime Minister.

The ex-PM said he didn't have to disclose his earnings because he was a "private citizen" at the time - despite being asked three times on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. Lord Cameron had sought access to an emergency Covid loan for Greensill Capital, which was headed by ex-No10 adviser and banker Lex Greensill.

The firm collapsed in March 2021 and the same year a report by MPs accused the ex-PM of a "significant lack of judgement" in attempting to lobby ministers on behalf of the firm. A BBC Panorama report in 2021 claimed the ex-PM made around $10million - £7million - from Greensill before the firm collapsed.

Asked about the reports, Lord Cameron, who is now the Foreign Secretary, told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: "No, that isn't true". But when pressed on how much he did receive, the former Tory leader swerved the question.

He said: "While I was out of office the most important thing I did was help Alzheimer's Research UK raise millions of pounds battling with dementia - that was the number one thing I did. This issue on Greensill has been examined by all of these committees, by all these inquiries".

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Quizzed a second time, Lord Cameron said he had declared "all the information" to those responsible for the register of ministers' interests. "They have the information about the jobs that I had and the things that I did and they make a decision about declaration. But of course during that period I was a private citizen between 2016 and when I took this job," he added.

Asked a third time he said: "I was a private citizen. I had a number of different interests of things I did, including important charitable work. I think as a private citizen you're entitled to do that and that's what I've done. Very clearly on coming back into Government I resigned every single job, every single position, everything I did. Then you make a declaration of your interests, you have to explain companies you've been working for to the person who registers these interests".

A spokesman for the ex-PM told The Mirror at the time, "David Cameron did not receive anything like the figure quoted by Panorama" and added "he acted in good faith at all times".

Ashley Cowburn