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Breaking: Corrupt Money Launderers HSBC bankrolled Corrupt Cameron & Corrupt Osborne’s Trips to Davos

Corrupt Money Launderers HSBC bankrolled David Cameron and George Osborne’s trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2009, it has emerged.

The controversial lender lent the gaffe-prone billionaire bookie and former Tory Treasurer Michael Spencer £200 million pounds just a day before the massive Iceland Crisis that wiped billions of pounds off the balance sheets of many UK Local Authorities.

Many of these cash strapped Local Authorities had invested in Iceland because of advice given to them by one of Michael Spencer’s firms — Butlers.

Shortly after getting a £200million bailout from HSBC and narrowly avoiding bankruptcy because of the Iceland debacle (unlike his local authority clients), Spencer donated a million pounds to the Tory party.

It was around this time that Spencer’s holding company IPGL paid for Cameron and Osborne to fly to Davos by private jet.

This revelation is all the more galling given that Cameron and Osborne are known to have shaped regulation to favour HSBC and Spencer’s ICAP and torpedoed investigations into both firms both in the UK and the USA.

Some anti-corruption researchers and campaigners raised this issue with the HSBC board at the Bank’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in London on Friday but were sidelined.

The Canary have run a piece on the scandal which has received zero pick-up in the mainstream press.

For more info on Spencer read this article by the excellent I am Incorrigible :

The “rank hypocrisy” of political donations (video)
The “rank hypocrisy” of political donations (video)

On Wednesday it was revealed that former Tory treasurer Michael Spencer’s financial broking company, ICAP, had been fined £55m for fixing the LIBOR market. Spencer, who owns 17% of the compan&
I Am Incorrigible I Am Incorrigible

 

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Ex-KGB Billionaire appoints City of London lobbyist to run London’s biggest newspaper

Billionaire ex-KGB spy Alexander Lebedev has just hired George Osborne to edit London’s Evening Standard newspaper.

George Osborne announced as new Evening Standard editor
George Osborne announced as new Evening Standard editor

George Osborne has been announced as the new editor of the Evening Standard. The former Chancellor will succeed Sarah Sands and take up his role in early May. Mr Osborne said: "This is such an exciting and challenging job and Im thrilled to take it on. The Evening Standard is a great paper, testimony to the hard work of Sarah Sands and the impressive team, and to the investment of its owners. I look forward to working with, learning from and leading this team of dedicated professionals. 
Evening Standard Evening Standard

The move has triggered concerns about media bias and conflicts of interest.

This from HSBC Fraud whistleblower Nicholas Wilson.

In Praise of Sound Money

Here is Osborne praising the Conservative Chancellor Phillip Hammond  straight after last week’s disastrous budget.

 

Will there be calls for Tory U-Turns in Osborne’s Standard?

Conflicts of interest

Only last week the Evening Standard itself printed a story on Osborne’s conflicts of interest.

Originally covered by Financial Eyes / London Conversation here.

  Original Shape-Shifter

Adam Curtis’s short 2009 film, Oh Dear, points to parallels between Russian and British propaganda — particularly to George Osborne’s rôle. (after 3 minutes 12 seconds)

KGB Banking Oligarch

Lebedev himself made his money from banking in the late 90’s after having been a London based Soviet spy.

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

BBC Bias

Here is the BBC’s very own ex-Lebedev man, Amol Rajan, being interviewed by its ex-Murdoch Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil:

The establishment routinely ignores questions about media ownership and media bias in this country.

But even by British standards this is an unprecedented political appointment.

City AM

The City Of London’s daily financial free paper City AM’s editor Christian May was given the job without ever having worked at a newspaper.

Though I disagree with many of his views Christian May edits well:

Murdoch

Murdoch’s Times has had it in for Russia for a while. It’s pushed for sanctions against Russia for its role in the Crimea and Syria.

Press tycoon tried to win support for Putin
Press tycoon tried to win support for Putin

Alexander Lebedev, the Russian billionaire whose son owns The Independent and Evening Standard, tried to help President Putin to win western approval for the annexation of Crimea, according to...
www.thetimes.co.uk www.thetimes.co.uk

Putin

Lebedev does seem to be friendly with Putin.

Putin is not the villain; its the Wests banks laundering money
Putin is not the villain; its the Wests banks laundering money

Too much Panama Papers space has been wasted attempting to make links between Russian funny money and Vladimir Putin. I have no drum to bang for the Russian President or anyone else, but from what weve seen so far the supposed links between him and mystery money being filtered out of the country seem rather tenuous.  The way the leaks have been sewn together and presented make it look obvious that Putin must be spiriting billions of dollars out of the country. Look closer at the documented evidence and you see the case is actually nowhere near made.
Evening Standard Evening Standard

Standard Morale

I wonder what having the Austerity Chancellor in charge of the Standard will do for staff morale.

Millionaire Lebedev cuts Evening Standard staffs hours and pay in half
Millionaire Lebedev cuts Evening Standard staffs hours and pay in half

The paper has trebled pre-tax profits to £3.4 million
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