14 January 2024 , 11:17
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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".