Rachel Reeve appeared on Good Morning Britain to explain Labour will push for a full investigation into the David Cameron Greensill scandal in the commons on Wednesday and blasted the former Tory PM for abusing his position of power. But host Adil Ray pointed out to the Labour MP that Tony Blair has secured many millions from investment firm J.P Morgan after he left office and drew comparisons with abusing of position. Ms Reeve stumbled and said more transparency was needed before Mr Ray blasted her for not answering the question and for not drawing where the line was.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Ms Reeves began by explaining Labour’s reasoning for the investigation vote in the Commons.
She said: “This is about lobbying, it’s about sleaze, it’s about cronyism and corruption.
“It’s about access to ministers, not because of what you’ve got to bring to the table but because of whose telephone number you’ve got and what contact lists you’ve got and it’s not the way that government should be done.
Host Kate Garraway then pointed out that the Government was allowing “maximum access” to ministers to investigate the issue and asked why is “wasn’t enough” for the Labour shadow minister.
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Ms Reeve said it was important for a “proper investigation” to be held to reinforce the public’s trust in politics.
She warned a deeper investigation could find other lobbying scandals within the Government and urged for rules to be tightened up.
But host Adil Ray then wondered what her position was on former Labour leader Tony Blair and said: “Where are you drawing the line because David Cameron will say that he was working within the rules and you’re simply saying, well, we’re going to change the rules.
“But where do you draw the line, should Tony Blair give what give back some of the two and a half million pounds he apparently earned when working for JP Morgan.
“They said at one point back in 2008 that Tony Blair could earn 20 million pounds.
“He was Prime Minister of this country he could be texting anybody at any moment and why shouldn’t he, they are people he’s worked with but at the same time he earned millions.
“Should he give back some of the money now?”
But Ms Garraway blasted Ms Reeves and said most people rely on the context of their previous employments to succeed in life and pointed out Prime Minister Boris Johnson would look for other work when he left office.
Ms Reeves appeared to dodge the question and reiterated Labour’s position of tightening the rule around lobbying including registering people on a lobby list.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron has sparked controversy after it was revealed he approached several government ministers to secure loans for Greensill Capital – a firm he worked for.
The Sunday Times revealed he approached Rishi Sunak and other treasury officials to get access to the Covid Corporate Financing Facility loan scheme but was ultimately rejected.