DAVID Cameron’s appointment as Foreign Secretary must be investigated following his induction into the House of Lords, the LibDems have insisted.
In a letter to Rishi Sunak’s ethics adviser Laurie Magnus, LibDem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain has called on Cameron’s shock return to government to be probed and has urged the Prime Minister to come clean on what conversations took place between him and his new Cabinet Secretary prior to his appointment.
She has stressed the “desperate” former PM has “serious questions to answer” over whether he can act impartially.
Other issues the Scottish MP has raised include whether Cameron – who becomes Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton – will be publishing a full list of ministerial interests as soon as he is appointed, and if he will be placing his investments into a blind trust to prevent conflicts of interest.
Currently, it is expected that Cameron won't have to publish his register of interests until January.
The letter also asks whether Cameron will come clean over any of his recent lobbying work – including involving foreign governments such as China – and calls for clarity over whether he will recuse himself from any cabinet discussions on decisions related to his recent and current financial interests, including on the Greensill scandal.
Chamberlain said: “We need urgent clarity over David Cameron’s financial interests, which could lead to serious conflicts of interest whilst he represents the UK on the world stage.
“If he was serious about acting with integrity, Rishi Sunak would address these concerns by asking his ethics adviser to launch a full investigation into Cameron’s appointment.
“David Cameron has serious questions to answer over whether he can act impartially in the best interests of the British people. His judgement and integrity have all been questioned in recent years and for good reason.
“Everybody could hear Rishi Sunak scraping the bottom of the barrel when he made this appointment. He is a desperate Prime Minister appointing an equally desperate politician trying to rehabilitate his image. Frankly, the country deserves better.”
Cameron wore the traditional scarlet robes for a short introduction ceremony on Monday in the Lords, where he swore the oath of allegiance to the King.
Although Cameron is not an MP, he has been able to be appointed Foreign Secretary due to being handed a life peerage – with those in the House of Lords also able to hold ministerial positions.
Lord David Frost notably served as Brexit minister and Boris Johnson's chief negotiator with the EU but was not an MP at the time. He quit the Cabinet in 2021.
Ex-SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford told The National last week Cameron’s appointment was not a normal way for democracy to operate adding: “Goodness knows what the consequences of this could be.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater said Cameron joining the Lords shows how "broken" Westminster is.
She told The National: "The sight of a robed David Cameron joining the benches of unelected Lords underlines how broken and unfit for purpose the Westminster system is. The Foreign Secretary is one of the most senior roles in government, the idea of it being held by a man who we cannot remove is one that should stick in the craw of every democrat.
"David Cameron's legacy is one of failure. So much of the damage we are seeing now began when he was in Downing Street.
"The House of Lords is an affront to democracy. One of the many advantages of Scottish independence is that we will finally be able to have a real democracy where power lies with the people rather than being given to a chamber of legislators that we did not vote for."
People have been reacting on social media to Cameron becoming a peer, with ex-Labour MSP Neil Findlay posted a vomiting gif in response to the news of him becoming the first ex-PM to get a peerage since Margaret Thatcher.
Angus councillor Lloyd Melville sarcastically said “they look delighted to have him”, referencing the bored faces of others on the benches behind him during the ceremony.
SNP MP Owen Thompson said: “Don’t they mean Baron Greensill?”
A parliamentary inquiry two years ago showed Cameron has shown a “significant lack of judgement” over a lobbying campaign for bank Greensill Capital in which he held a personal economic interest.
The former prime minister launched an intensive round of text messages to ministers and high-ranking civil servants at the height of the Covid pandemic on behalf of the bank, which collapsed the following year.
Others on social media have branded the appointment a “joke” and “corrupt” while some have called for the Lords to be scrapped altogether as Cameron’s appointment serves as a reminder of the undemocratic nature of the upper chamber.
