LONDON (AFP, REUTERS) - British inventor James Dyson was on Wednesday (April 21) drawn into a wider row about privileged government access after the BBC reported that he personally texted Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.

The corporation said that the bagless vacuum cleaner innovator asked Mr Johnson to "fix" the tax status of his employees after the government appealed for his company's help to make emergency ventilators.

BBC reported that Mr Dyson made a direct appeal after receiving no reply from the Treasury when he sought clarity about whether his staff would have to pay extra tax if they came to Britain to help.

In the March 2020 exchange, Mr Johnson reportedly replied: "I will fix it tomo! We need you. It looks fantastic."

Mr Dyson was quoted as telling the BBC his company did not receive any benefit from the ventilator project, and all he was doing was "seeking compliance with the rules".

The government for its part maintained it did everything possible to secure the equipment at a time when there were real fears the health service could run out of ventilators.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told BBC TV on Wednesday: "We were in the middle of a national emergency and the Prime Minister was doing this not for his own gain. James Dyson wasn't doing this for his own gain. We were doing it in order to ensure that we got these ventilators rapidly in order to ensure that we dealt with a national emergency and it was a temporary measure.

"This measure went before Parliament in the proper transparent way."

Drip-feed of revelations

But revelations of direct access to the Prime Minister come as Mr Johnson and his government are under pressure about allegations of cronyism in the awarding of contracts.

A series of investigations have been launched into claims of conflicts of interest involving senior ministers and civil servants.

The main opposition Labour party called the latest revelations "jaw-dropping" and said Mr Johnson must now agree to a full inquiry into lobbying.

A drip-feed of revelations over the collapse of an opaque financial firm has raised questions about cosy ties between UK politicians, civil servants and big business as the government spends lavishly on fighting the pandemic.

Greensill Capital risks turning into the worst Westminster scandal since 2009, when many Members of Parliament were found to have fiddled their expenses, fuelling public disgust with the political class in the years leading up to the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Mr David Cameron, the prime minister who made a catastrophic bet that Britain would opt to stay in the European Union, stepped down after the vote.

He went on to become a paid adviser to Greensill, amassing share options potentially worth millions.

The company imploded last month, threatening thousands of jobs at companies that relied on its supply chain financing, including at the steel empire of Indian-British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta.

Mr Johnson has since launched a probe into the lobbying of senior officials, including finance minister Rishi Sunak, before the collapse.

In total, the government has budgeted more than £400 billion (S$742 billion) to deal with the health crisis across the board.