Andrew pierce: the big secret missing from david cameron's memoir

By ANDREW PIERCE FOR THE DAILY MAIL Published: 20:18 EDT, 11 April 2021 | Updated: 07:51 EDT, 28 January 2022 The political stench surrounding David Cameron’s lobbying efforts on behalf of

Greensill Capital grows stronger by the day. New evidence at the weekend reveals attempts by the former PM to influence Boris Johnson’s Government. In addition to a text message to

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Cameron is reported to have emailed a senior special adviser at No 10, and to have lobbied four senior ministers. This includes organising a ‘private drink’ with

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Lex Greensill, the now disgraced Australian founder of the firm, and Cameron himself. Cameron, an adviser to Greensill Capital, had allegedly boasted to

friends that his share options would make him $60 million after the company was valued at $7 billion in 2020. The specialist lender collapsed last month, threatening 55,000 jobs worldwide

and 5,000 UK steel jobs. Last month, Cameron was cleared by a watchdog assessing whether he engaged in lobbying for which he should have registered, but demands for an inquiry are growing in

the wake of the latest developments. So it is intriguing to explore what Dave had to say about Greensill in his memoirs, and especially of the highly unusual move made when he was prime

minister to give Lex Greensill a desk in the Cabinet Office. The answer is . . . nothing. There is no mention of Greensill in the 732 pages of For The Record. The book was published in 2019

when Cameron thought he was still in line for a bumper payout one day. Could it be he didn’t want to draw unhelpful attention to the Greensill connection?  LIVERPOOL HAVE GOD ON THEIR SIDE 

When Liverpool turn out on Wednesday to try to overturn a 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League, they’ll have an influential ally. Vincent Nichols, the Roman Catholic

Archbishop of Westminster, revealed to Nick Ferrari on LBC, he will be praying for Liverpool in the quarter-final second leg. ‘On the subject of divine intervention, I’ll be on my knees for

that... It would be a miracle. An empty Anfield is like a team without an arm, frankly. But two years ago, they were 3-0 down to Barcelona and they won 4-0 at home.’ Who says Jurgen Klopp’s

team haven’t got a prayer? A question from Sir Bernard Ingham, who was Mrs T’s Press Secretary, to Nicola Sturgeon: ‘If it is a desire for independence, why do you seek to subject yourself

to the less democratic EU that takes its orders from the France-Germany axis?’ Quite. Veteran Radio 2 DJ Paul Gambaccini can’t resist a dig at Auntie’s yoof-chasing sister station. ‘I can’t

find the chart on the Radio 1 website any more,’ he says. His Pick Of The Pops has the highest listening figures in a decade: ‘So, thank you, Radio 1 for sending me listeners.’   TRIBUTES TO

PRINCE PHILIP HARK BACK TO CHILDHOOD  Sir Nicholas Soames, reflecting on the life and times of Prince Philip, recalled their first meeting when he was just 12. The Duke gave Sir Winston

Churchill’s grandson important advice: ‘Stop whining and just get on with it.’ A pithy epitaph for a great man. And George Osborne has fond memories, too, tweeting: ‘Prince Philip didn’t

stand on ceremony — when I was introduced as Chancellor of the Exchequer to a bemused President of Indonesia, the Duke cut in: “He’s the money man — except we haven’t got any money.” We’ll

miss him more than we know.’ Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Louise Haigh was puzzled to learn that Helen Fielding, the creator of Bridget Jones’s Diary, may have based her hero Mark

Darcy, immortalised by Colin Firth in the films, on Sir Keir Starmer. ‘I had a massive crush on Colin Firth,’ Haigh said. ‘But I’m afraid I don’t have a crush on Keir Starmer.’ Nor do the

voters, Louise, nor do the voters.