Bank of England reveals lobbying efforts of ex-PM Cameron

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England published on Thursday a series of communications showing Britain's former prime minister, David Cameron making repeated efforts for a now-bankrupt financial firm to access a state-backed coronavirus financial support scheme.

It is the latest in a growing tide of revelations about links between Cameron and state bodies and individuals as part of his work as an adviser to Greensill Capital, which collapsed last month.

According to email communications released by Britain's central bank under freedom of information laws, Cameron contacted the bank several times in March 2020 to “discuss financing conditions at the onset of the pandemic."

The documents show that he managed to set up a call between the firm’s founder, Australian financier Lex Greensill, and the bank's deputy governor Jon Cunliffe on March 17. On that day, the bank launched the COVID Corporate Financing Facility, a scheme under which it lent money directly to large companies, backed by the Treasury.

Cameron also contacted the bank again during April 2020 after Lex Greensill had failed in an attempt to tap the recently launched scheme.

Cameron even wrote to Cunliffe on April 22, 2020, expressing how “incredibly frustrating” the exercise had proved to be.

“Apologies for bothering you about this again,” Cameron said in his opening sentence.

At another call between Lex Greensill and Cunliffe two days later, Cunliffe said the firm “would currently fall outside the boundaries of the scheme.”

On Thursday, the top civil servant at the Treasury, Tom Scholar, also revealed that Cameron had called him on his cell phone and sent a series of texts as part of his lobbying efforts for Greensill Capital, specifically the proposal to access the CCFF.

“The call I took...