Thread by @bphillipsonMP

The Greensill story is complex and confusing.

But the Chancellor’s text messages released tonight make it very simple - a little thread:

2. This is about Rishi Sunak intervening to try to put hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer money in the hands of an unregulated lending firm with links to a former Conservative PM.

3. First, some background: As PM, David Cameron opened the doors of government to Greensill Capital, owned by his friend Lex Greensill. When he left No 10, Cameron became an 'advisor' to the bank. In that role, he lobbied his former Tory colleagues.

4. Why? Well, Cameron apparently boasted he stood to make $60 million from his shares in the company. Greensill's success = money for Cameron.

5. We know that Cameron tried this on the Chancellor. And up until now the Treasury has carefully suggested that the Chancellor washed his hands of him. Nothing to see here.

6. But we now know the truth is rather different.

7. In text messages he never thought would see the light of day, Rishi Sunak told Cameron that he had in fact 'pushed the team to explore an alternative with the Bank'.

8. Pushed them to do what?

9. Well, Cameron wanted Greensill to get cheap government loans - in effect, he was after taxpayer money, directly from the Bank of England, to prop up Greensill.

10. These messages are evidence that far from ignoring Cameron, Sunak actively tried to influence the decision, and 'push' his team to rewrite the rules so taxpayers cash could go to a bank that has now gone bankrupt.

11. In doing so, he could well have broken the Ministerial Code. He certainly put taxpayer money at risk. And there are still many unanswered questions.

12. First, why did the Chancellor let Greensill into another Covid loan scheme after it failed to gain access to the Bank of England scheme, putting hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer cash at risk?

13. Second, why was the Chancellor planning to roll out the type of lending championed by Greensill across the public sector before its collapse - and how much would that have cost the taxpayer?

14. Third, we need to know if Greensill or other people outside government had any role in the design of these emergency loan schemes.

15. The public deserve answers. This is not Boris Johnson's money or Rishi Sunak's money or Conservative money - it's public money.

16. But so far, Conservatives on Select Committees are refusing to open investigations into the whole affair and the Prime Minister is blocking an independent investigation into this scandal.

That must now change.

Was on the BBC earlier this evening. We need an investigation now. 👇