David Cameron has done nothing wrong

To paraphrase the old adage, truth can still be pulling on its boots when a misconception is already half way around the world. This is what has happened over the David Cameron/ Greensill affair. There is only one antidote to that: the facts. David Cameron’s statement sets these out clearly. There is to be an inquiry, which is likely to recommend procedural changes. It should also become clear that Cameron has nothing to fear from what has happened.

To see why, it’s first worth delving back to 2010, when the Tories had just returned to office. In the early days of the coalition government, there was much discussion about the future of the civil service. Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, believed the system needed shaking up and that importing outsiders could help to bring this about. 

A crucial figure agreed with him: Jeremy Heywood, the head of the civil service. The late Lord Heywood, who died tragically young at the age of 56, was one of the most respected civil servants of recent decades.