I'm going all namby pamby on you - I implore you all to watch tonight's
Panorama when it appears on iPlayer... a quite incredible story of bullying (and yes it's definitely bullying Deadly) by two of the wealthiest men in the country... well, British men anyway, tax exiles now (the Barclay brothers).
The programme is about their tax affairs (demanding £1 billion from HMRC through Littlewoods, one of their companies, even though they have been given a rebate of £400 million already and one of their other ventures, the profitable Ritz has never paid Corporation Tax since they bought it in the mid 90s).
It also focusses on their bullying of the people of Sark, whose residents they pretty much hold to ransom - they own the island next door, which is officially part of Sark. They donated generous sums money to projects (for example the building of a community venue) and then demanded it back once the money was spent on technicalities, sometimes dragging the ordinary residents through lengthy legal battles. They basically sue when they don't get their own way - even if that means the residents may lose their homes. They petition and sue when laws are passeds that don't suit them. Their right-hand man runs a newsletter on the island that defames their detractors. They got somebody to follow the BBC reporter round and spy on him. Dreadful people.
By the way, if you buy the Telegraph, you fund them, as they own it. It's a bit of a first for me - it's the first time I think I've ever agreed with Nadine Dorries on something.
It's very interesting - a real eye opener - please do watch.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01px74c
chrismoyles.net
