By sending a simple text message, former Prime Minister David Cameron has lit a fire under his successor and former school pal’s government.

The publicity around the Greensill Capital scandal has shone a light on what some of us have been fighting for years: the cosy and opaque relationship between corporate lobbyists and government ministers.

A decade ago I attempted to establish a mandatory register of lobbyists by way of a Ten Minute Rule Bill. It did not become law - these things seldom do - but nevertheless Cameron himself had an opportunity to increase transparency with his 2014 lobbying bill, which he manifestly wasted, choosing instead to target the campaign budgets of not-for-profit campaigning groups such as the anti-racist group Hope Not Hate.

Ilford Recorder: John Cryer has been overwhelmed with Covid-related mattersJohn Cryer has been overwhelmed with Covid-related matters (Image: Parliament UK)

Greensill and other behind-the-scenes deals do not even pay lip service to transparency - for example the PM’s text conversations with James Dyson and subsequent change of tax policy, or his health secretary’s fix-ups on PPE - the legacy of this failure to act is clear to see.

I believe Boris Johnson has contempt for the checks and balances which are supposed to ensure that conflicts of interest are avoided and corruption is prevented. I think it will not get better on his watch: his attitude to such things date back at least as far as his tenure at City Hall where he has been accused of giving privileged access to a presumed girlfriend.

But why does this matter? Well, in a democracy every citizen has a right to expect that his or her voice can be heard in Westminster every bit as loudly as anyone else’s, irrespective of what school they attended or who they mix with.

This requires at the very least that all lobbying happens in broad daylight.