Last week the Chancellor Rishi Sunak released text messages he'd sent to former PM David Cameron.
As PM, Cameron opened the doors of government to a firm called Greensill Capital, owned by his friend Lex Greensill.
After leaving No 10, Cameron became a shareholder and adviser to the firm.
Fast forward to March 2020.
The Government unveiled schemes to support businesses through the pandemic, handing out billions of money to small and big businesses.
Greensill were very keen to get access to government money, but didn't qualify for the biggest scheme.
Enter David Cameron.
We still don't know exactly how many texts he sent or to which ministers, but we know that he messaged Chancellor Rishi Sunak directly to ask him for help.
We now know that Sunak replied to say he'd “pushed the team to explore an alternative”.
It looks like Sunak tried to influence the decision – to “push” his team to rewrite the rules so taxpayers' cash could go to Cameron's firm Greensill.
And while Greensill didn't end up getting money from that scheme, they did end up with public money from a different scheme the Government introduced to support larger firms. Within months, Greensill collapsed, putting all that at risk.
Private conversations with lobbyists.
Directing civil servants to do things for personal contacts.
Sunak could well have broken the Ministerial Code.
Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds is dragging Sunak to the Commons on Tuesday to find out.
Why did he let Greensill anywhere near these loan schemes, putting taxpayer cash at risk?
Did he let private companies get involved in designing these schemes?
Why was he planning to roll out the type of lending Greensill provides across the public sector?
The public deserve answers. Because this isn't Rishi Sunak's money – it's public money.
