Greensill scandal takes another scalp

First it was David Cameron, then Rishi Sunak and Matt Hancock, and now one of Britain’s most senior former civil servants has been dragged into an ever-growing scandal that is set to run right to the heart of the Conservative government.

Today it emerged that Bill Crothers, who worked in Whitehall for eight years and latterly as head of government procurement, began advising Greensill Capital in September 2015 while still employed in the civil service. 

The news is the latest in a string of revelations revolving around financier Lex Greensill and his doomed investment vehicle Greensill Capital. The company dealt in what is known as “supply chain finance”, and in 2018 won the contract to run a scheme that would see pharmacies paid early for money owed to them from the NHS. Greensill has since gone bust.

In a letter to the head of Acoba, the anti-corruption panel that vets the acceptability of jobs sought by former senior civil servants, Crothers revealed that he took up a part-time board advisory role with Greensill Capital in September 2015 while he was still employed as a civil servant.

Crothers said that the appointment was agreed by the Cabinet Office’s “internal conflicts of interest policy” and supported by “Cabinet Office leadership at the time”. He said that because he was cleared for the role by the Cabinet Office he did not need to apply to Acoba for clearance. 

Crothers did, however, seek Acoba advice in relation to three other roles he began in that period, including founding a consultancy in December 2016. In that role Crothers subcontracted for Francis Maude Associates, a firm co-founded by Maude, a former Cabinet Office minister, and Simone Finn, who left earlier this year to become Downing Street’s Deputy Chief of Staff. As part of that process, Crothers was ordered not to lobby the government for two years. 

Labour has described news of the Cabinet Office’s approval of Crothers’ Greensill job as an “extraordinary and shocking revelation” and called for a parliamentary inquiry into what it is calling the “Greensill scandal”.

Lockdown not vaccines did the trick

Boris Johnson has said that lockdown – not the rapid vaccine rollout – is responsible for the “bulk of the work” in reducing infections, hospitalisations and deaths across the UK.

Speaking to broadcasters in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said he didn’t think people appreciated that lockdown has been “overwhelmingly important” in reducing infections, adding: “Of course the vaccination programme has helped, but the bulk of work in reducing disease has been done by the lockdown.”

The PM warned that the current easing of restrictions would “inevitably” result in a rise in infections, but that he couldn’t see “any reason” to change his roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions “at the moment”.

Despite the PM’s positivity, there are at least two potential roadblocks on the horizon.

Yesterday the government launched its largest surge testing programme of the pandemic after 44 cases of the more infectious South African variant were identified in Wandsworth and Lambeth, which have a shared population of more than 657,000 people.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today, Ruth Hutt, Director of Public Health for Lambeth Council, encouraged residents to enjoy the easing of lockdown – “but to do that safely” – adding that she was “fairly confident” the local authority had managed to trace the contacts of people who had tested positive for the variant.

The government is hoping a combination of PCR and twice-weekly rapid testing will keep this mutant variant at bay. But they face another potential setback in the form of Johnson & Johnson’s decision to delay the rollout of its Janssen vaccine in Europe after health agencies called for a pause on the jab’s use in the US while they investigate several incidents of rare blood clots.

Britain has ordered 30 million doses of the vaccine – though it is yet to be approved for use by regulators – and this delay could impact the government’s reported plans to offer the injection to millennials who may not want to wait three months for a second dose.

Food banks for Ramadan 

Millions of Muslims across the globe are celebrating the first day of Ramadan, amid ongoing pandemic restrictions on communal prayers and fasting. 

Around three million British Muslims will take part in the festival over the next month, abstaining from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn until sunset.

This is the second Ramadan to fall during coronavirus. In 2020, Islam’s holiest month began almost a month into the first lockdown, with mosques shuttered across the country. Muslims were unable to take part in congregational prayers or visit family and friends to break their fast together. 

Acts of communal worship have been allowed throughout the winter lockdown, provided social distancing measures are in place. Mosques in the UK are welcoming worshippers back for Ramadan prayers, but in smaller groups with numerous health precautious in place.

At the East London Mosque, one of the largest mosques in Europe, Shaykh Abdul Qayum, the head imam, says they feel “blessed” to be able to return.

Traditionally, the mosque hosts a big meal after sunset so that everyone can break their fast together. But this year donations are being made to the mosque’s food bank instead. The substitute feels appropriate; after all, Ramadan is intended to be a month filled with acts of charity for all Muslims.

Olivia Gavoyannis,
Reaction Reporter