David Cameron's lobbying emails to the head of NHSX on behalf of Greensill Capital

The emails sent by David Cameron in which he lobbied on behalf of Greensill Capital were revealed last night for the first time.

In a message in April 2020 to Matthew Gould, head of NHSX, the health service’s digital arm, Mr Cameron described Greensill as ‘the UK’s leading fintech firm’.

The lender fell into administration in March.

Mr Cameron lobbied Mr Gould, who previously worked for him in government, about ‘one of the businesses I now work with’ – Greensill Capital, whose Earnd app was being piloted in several NHS trusts, the Sunday Times reported.

He also offered to introduce Mr Gould to Bill Crothers, previously one of Britain’s most senior civil servants who, it emerged last week, took a job with Greensill while working in Whitehall.

The message raised further questions for Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, as Mr Cameron wrote to Mr Gould to say that the Health Secretary was ‘extremely positive about this innovative offer’.

Last week it emerged Mr Hancock met Mr Cameron and Mr Greensill for a ‘private drink’ in 2019 to discuss a new payment scheme for the NHS.

Mr Cameron (pictured) lobbied Mr Gould, who previously worked for him in government, about ‘one of the businesses I now work with’ – Greensill Capital, whose Earnd app was being piloted in several NHS trusts, the Sunday Times reported

Senior Tory Sir Bernard Jenkin (right) appealed for Boris Johnson (left) to get a grip after a slew of revelations in the wakes of Greensill Capital’s collapse into administration

Hunt for Labour ‘moles’ in government

A network of Labour Party ‘spies’ is operating at the heart of Whitehall, feeding secret information to Sir Keir Starmer’s team to destabilise the Government, senior Tory sources claim.

The moles – Labour-sympathising civil servants – are believed to have played a key role in triggering the lobbying scandal which has allowed Sir Keir’s party to construct a narrative of ‘Tory sleaze’ by leaking details of David Cameron’s contacts with Ministers and officials.

They are also suspected of using leaks to try to ‘sabotage’ the Brexit withdrawal negotiations last year, and to provide advance notice to the Labour leader about Government policies in the pipeline – giving him time to structure his responses.

The Tory spy-hunters believe a ‘cell’ of Labour supporters, centred on the Cabinet Office, was activated last year after Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson’s former senior adviser in No 10, declared that a ‘hard rain’ was coming for the Civil Service as part of planned reforms to break up Whitehall’s grip on the establishment.

Mr Cummings is a long-standing critic of the Whitehall establishment, describing the permanent Civil Service as ‘an idea for the history books’ and proposing the abolition of senior civil servants’ roles.

The 2020 email to Mr Gould read: ‘Greensill have recently launched a digital solution (recently rebranded from Greensill Pay to Earnd) which helps with one of the SOS’s [Secretary of State’s] and your key priorities: helping all NHS employees’ welfare, morale, and wellbeing.’

The former Prime Minister asked NHSX to grant it access to the data of NHS employees.

Within months, Earnd announced a partnership to deliver rapid payment to up to half a million NHS staff, having secured deals to get access to the sought-after data.

A spokesman for Mr Cameron told the Sunday Times: ‘These discussions were about the mechanics to ensure Earnd was delivered for NHS workers in an efficient way.’

Boris Johnson was today warned failure to tackle the ‘shameful’ lobbying storm could cost him votes as a crucial round of elections loom.

Senior Tory Sir Bernard Jenkin appealed for the PM to get a grip after a slew of revelations in the wake of Greensill Capital’s collapse into administration.

Unless he is more ‘transparent’ the row could hit the ‘Red Wall’ support that delivered Mr Johnson’s historic 2019 majority, Sir Bernard said.

The scale of damage could become clear within weeks, with a wave of elections on May 6 including councils, mayors and a by-election in Hartlepool – a seat traditionally held by Labour but within the grasp of the Conservatives if their working-class surge continues.

Mr Johnson has ordered a Cabinet Office probe overseen by a legal expert as he scrambles to defuse the lobbying row.

The saga deepened last week after it emerged the former head of government procurement, Bill Crothers, took a part-time position with the firm while in his Whitehall post.

In the latest revelations today:

A procession of former PMs are expected to give evidence to a Parliament inquiry into lobbying;
Environment Secretary George Eustice confirmed the official probe by Nigel Boardman will not make recommendations about tightening rules;
Mr Johnson is set to name a new adviser on ministerial interests tomorrow after the dramatic departure of Sir Alex Allan over his Priti Patel report;
Tories are hunting for a suspected group of Labour moles in government thought to have been leaking damaging stories;
Mr Cameron is facing calls for an investigation into a meeting with Philip Hammond amid suspicion that he may have used it to urge Government to support a £700million UK-China investment fund.

David Cameron’s wife Samantha accompanied him on the trip to China where she attended a banquet to welcome her to China with fashion entrepreneur Wendy Yu (Samantha and Wendy pictured together)

Commons standards chief calls for probe into suspicion David Cameron lobbied Philip Hammond to back investment fund set up by friend Lord Chadlington

An inquiry into lobbying by David Cameron should also examine a meeting that the former Prime Minister had with Philip Hammond amid suspicion that he may have used it to pressure the Government into supporting a lucrative £700million UK -China investment fund, according to the Chairman of the Commons Standards Committee.

As PM, Mr Cameron – the subject of an independent inquiry by lawyer Nigel Boardman over his lobbying of Ministers and Whitehall officials on behalf of loans firm Greensill Capital – hailed a ‘golden era’ in trade relations between Britain and China.

After leaving Downing Street, he seemingly hoped to cash in with a new private equity fund proposed by his friend Lord Chadlington, who had donated thousands of pounds to his Tory leadership campaign.

By January 2018, Mr Cameron was back in Beijing, this time for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping (pictured together) about the initiative which could potentially net him millions

Mr Cameron flew to Beijing in September 2017 to discuss the plan with China’s Vice Premier Ma Kai.

In October that year – 15 months after stepping down as PM – he met with Mr Hammond, the then Chancellor, and two months later the Treasury gave its crucial support for the fund for which Mr Cameron was to be Vice-Chairman.

By January 2018, Mr Cameron was back in Beijing, this time for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the initiative which could potentially net him millions.

‘Excellent meeting & enjoyable dinner with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, to talk about the ‘Golden Era’ in UK-China relations & plans for the new UK-China Fund,’ he tweeted at the time.

Mr Cameron’s office last night said his meeting with Mr Hammond had been only to seek Government support for the ‘concept of a bilateral fund’ and he had not lobbied Ministers on behalf of the fund’s investors or partners.

He informed the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which advises former Ministers and civil servants on outside employment, about the meeting, his representatives added.