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And Cleared

A UK lobbying regulator has cleared former Prime Minister David Cameron over concerns he should have registered as a consultant-lobbyist for his work with Illumina, the Financial Times reports.

Cameron took on consulting roles in 2018, including one as a consultant and chairman of Illumina's international board. At the time, he told the UK Advisory Committee on Business Appointments that his role there might bring him into contact with ministers but that he would not lobby on behalf of Illumina or be part of negotiations between Illumina and Genomics England, which was set up during while Cameron was PM.

In August, the UK's Times reported that, in 2019, Cameron urged then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock to attend a genomics conference after which Illumina won a £123 million (US $170 million) genetic sequencing contract. OpenDemocracy further reported that Cameron met with the UK vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi in March to discuss genome sequencing and that Illumina won £870,000 in contracts in late April.

As FT reports, the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists has concluded that Cameron did not conduct any unregistered consultant-lobbyist activity, as an incidental exception for when a person's main role consists of non-lobbying activities applied.

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