Greensill scandal: Report by MPs shows it could have been worse. Next time it probably will be

MPs on the Treasury Select Committee have published a report. Others will follow. But will anything really change to prevent something like this happening again (except messier)? It’s doubtful, writes James Moore

Rishi Sunak was among those lobbied by David Cameron on behalf of the collapsed Greensill (PA)

There’s a parallel universe in which the former prime minister David Cameron delivered on the reported $1m a year, or whatever the absurd sum Greensill Capital paid him actually was, and got the firm everything it wanted. Bear that in mind as we discuss the Treasury Select Committee’s report into the collapse of the business, which managed to get in on government loan schemes and into bed with NHS trusts, among other things.

Various estimates have been made about the potential cost to the taxpayer. The Treasury puts this at maybe £6m. Former City minister Lord Myners’ calculations come out at up to £5bn (a figure the Treasury haughtily says it doesn’t recognise).

In reality? Who knows or dares to dream? Certainly not the committee. At the end of its section on costs, it says it’s too early to say because of the current uncertainty about the indirect ones.