Ian Greer Associates
The former lobbying firm at the heart of the 'cash for questions' affair in 1994.[1]
In 1994 it was reported that ‘Of Mr Greer's staff, 43 are members of or sympathisers with the Tories, another seven Labour supporters or members.’ [2]
Greer reportedly demanded much of his staff:
- One former employee said: "Staff are expected to get up at 6 am to read the morning's Hansard and get all the relevant bits faxed to clients by 8.45 am. On Sundays, he expected you to read all the papers and if there was anything affecting the clients you were involved with, to contact them immediately to see if anything needed to be done." In return, pay is high.
People at IGA at the time included Greer’s chief assistant Andrew Smith, ‘who joined as a 19-year-old in 1984 and is described as "the son Ian never had". Plucked from a job as filing clerk in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, he is now deputy managing director with ambitions to become an MP.’
Greer's lawyer, Andrew Stone, ‘who works for Lewis Silkin, and his auditor and accountant, Ian Mablin, who works for Wilson Wright, are both non-executive directors.’ The three associate directors included Robbie MacDuff, Patrick Ferreira, ‘a former airline steward’; and Jeremy Sweeney, ‘a Tory well known for his love of fishing, hunting and shooting.’
- Angie Bray, aged 39, formerly Chris Patten's assistant at Conservative Central Office, is a recent recruit. Others include Perry Miller, formerly special adviser to Malcolm Rifkind, the Defence Secretary, who switched careers five months ago. [3]
People
References
- ↑ Tory MPs were paid to plant questions says Harrods chief David Hencke, The Guardian, 20 October 1994
- ↑ David Hencke, ‘Master of the Grand Gesture; David Hencke charts the rise of Ian Greer, the Westminster lobbyist whose clients range from British Airways to the African National Congress’, The Guardian, 12 May, 1994, p. 3.
- ↑ David Hencke and John Mullin, ‘The Power and Prestige of Ian Greer: John Major and Norman Lamont are among the long-standing political friends of Ian Greer. Yet his pounds 3m lobbying business is formally tied with only one Tory MP, Michael Grylls’, The Guardian, 5 October, 1993, p. 6.
