Broken Britain: Knighthood’s for sale

By TruePublica: On the 12th September, TruePublica published an article entitled – The Snap Election – Powered by a Tory Crime Syndicate. The article focused on how Boris Johnson was going to fund the upcoming Dominic Cummings demand for a snap election.

“However, things are looking up, now that the Tories have got Ehud “Udi” Sheleg, the Conservatives’ largest current donor and now the party’s sole treasurer holding the purse-strings. Sheleg is an ‘art dealer’ and he’s just given the Conservatives another £1m in the second quarter of this year, making him their most generous current benefactor by some margin. Arguably more important, however, is his recent appointment as sole Tory party treasurer.”

We quoted from investigations about Sheleg’s business background, which involved the now-banned ‘binary options’ scandal (an ‘investment’ scheme that fleeced thousands of their savings), Russian oligarchs, organised crime connections along with seriously dodgy business practices. Sheleg consorts with royalty and it goes without saying that any self-respecting Tory financier should be shielding all these antics by way of companies registered in tax havens.

Well, before the snap election has even been called and his services of Tory treasurer have been proven, the government announced his knighthood as Theresa May’s parting gift to the nation.

As Private Eye reports: “Resignation honours carry little explanation for the higher gongs; so all we know about Udi’s K is that it rewards “political and public service”. But what public service? Even the support of Sheleg’s Halcyon Gallery for the Duke of Edinburgh International Foundation (an opportunity to get wealthy clients close to royalty) is the work of his partner, Paul Green. And as for political service, there was no sign of political interest from Sheleg, never mind service, until he started writing fat cheques to the Tories in 2017, soon before being named co-treasurer. It was only in July that he acquired an official position on the party’s board.”

Sheleg’s real service to the nation, for which we should all be grateful is, of course, the three nice fat cheques he handed to the Tories at a time of dire need (£1m of it in the latest reported quarter). “It’s a generosity shown even though his Bond Street art gallery has mysteriously been given extra time to pay its tax bill. Some public service, that.”

A knighthood is supposed to go selected persons to recognise some meritorious achievement or service to the country. Its historical meaning is associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct and service to the nation. At what point does Sheleg reach such criteria? It appears to be knighted in the UK all you need to do is give the Tories money. The title ‘Sir’ is for sale to the highest bidder.

Of course, loyalty to the bitter can pay off if you don’t have a couple of million to hand out. John Mann, one of only three Labour MPs who loyally voted for May’s doomed Brexit deal three times, is now Lord Mann for his trouble. On the Conservative benches, this summer’s short-lived chairman of the 1922 Committee, Charles Walker, had to represent backbenchers who were furious at May’s deal; yet he had thrice voted for the same deal, and is now no doubt as surprised as everyone else to find himself a Knight Commander of Bath. The list goes on.

There’s a reason why nobody trusts anyone in authority today. It is, after all, one of the main features of our age. No matter where you look, there are lying politicians, crooked bankers, offshore billionaire media barons, and totally out-of-control security services, and gongs for cash, all conspiring to profit from the disaster of their making. This is just another failure of a system crumbling before our eyes.

 

 

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