Former UK prime minister David Cameron broke his silence over the controversy of his lobbying for Greensill Capital, defending his actions and saying he was right to contact the Finance Ministry.
“I thought it was right for me to make representations on behalf of a company involved in financing a large number of UK firms,” Mr Cameron told PA.
“This was at a time of crisis for the UK economy, where everyone was looking for efficient ways to get money to businesses.”
Mr Cameron and government ministers have come under fire in recent weeks for their connections to Greensill, which specialised in financing supply-chain invoices but collapsed last month.
Mr Cameron, an adviser to the firm, had lobbied the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, to give Greensill access to Britain’s pandemic support programme.
He also arranged a private meeting with Health Secretary Matthew Hancock, after which a Greensill payment programme was used in the National Health Service, The Sunday Times reported.
But Mr Cameron did say there were “important lessons” to be learnt about how former ministers and prime ministers interact with the government.
He said communications should be “through only the most formal of channels so there can be no room for misinterpretation".
“In my representations to government, I was breaking no codes of conduct and no government rules,” Mr Cameron said.
“The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists has found that my activities did not fall within the criteria that require registration.”
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Mohammed Al Attas
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
