UK Steel Production: Greensill Capital Debate
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Alistair Carmichael
Main Page: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)Department Debates - View all Alistair Carmichael's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
UK Steel Production: Greensill Capital
Alistair Carmichael Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Kwasi Kwarteng
My hon. Friend raises very serious questions about the business model, which I am not prepared to go into now. What I will say is that, in the first two months of my tenure as Secretary of State, I have pushed forward audit reform as a big issue. A consultation on it is under way. It is issues relating to things such as Greensill capital that show how necessary it is for us to reconsider what we are doing on audit reform and to have the best standards in the world.
Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)
I think we all understand the importance of commercial confidentiality, but, where significant sums of taxpayers’ money are concerned, that cannot not be a barrier to full accountability. The Secretary of State will be aware that the Scottish Government are out for guarantees north of £500 million as a consequence of Greensill’s difficulties. Is that not something for which there really ought to be full explanations?
Kwasi Kwarteng
The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. My understanding is that the Scottish Government are very exposed to Greensill’s financial engineering—let me put it that way—and there should be far greater transparency in this regard.