- Is there any way Lord Goldsmith's decision to stop the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) inquiry into the Cash for Peerages scandal can be changed or halted? Can it be turned around? Can he too be held to account for perverting the course of justice with relation to this? Will it be possible for the inquiry to be re-opened and the law to be upheld?
Mark Thomas (Activist, Comedian and Writer) has a petition running on the 10 Downing Street website at the moment. He's been calling for people to sign this petition which asks for peerages to be available to buy for us all at £1.00 a go. It's only fair folks ain't it? He proposes that any money raised through this scheme could be donated to good causes alongside National Lotteries support.
Why should chief executives at BAE Systems and a 'privileged few' be the only ones able to become peers? Since Lord (I wonder how much his peerage cost?) Goldsmith took the piss by stopping the SFO inquiry, this may seem like it's dead-in-the-water and that justice counts for nothing. Perhaps Mark Thomas could start another petition requesting that this decision be turned around and call for us all to sign it to protect what little justice there might be left. I would definitely sign that...
To read more about Mark Thomas' original petition on the 10 Downing Street website click here. That hyperlink will take you to an article he wrote in the NEWSTATESMAN back on the 18th November this year. Maybe, if enough people sign it, Lord Goldsmith's decision can be over-turned and what's left of British justice can be seen to be done.
Is there anything you, the artistic and creative members of Sensitize can do to address this situation? Can you write a critical piece about it or a poem / song? Maybe paint a picture that shows or is representative of your utter contempt for BAE Systems' executives, the Saudi officials, Tony Blair and his rancid stinking corpse of a government. Perhaps you have an old work that could be refreshed and used to confront this.
Click here to read the full TIMESONLINE / The Sunday Times article.17th December, 2006: TIMESONLINE / The Sunday Times - wrote: "The allegations that the SFO had been investigating were that BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest defence company, had set up a £60m “slush fund” to support the extravagant lifestyle of members of the Saudi royal family.
The payments, in the form of lavish holidays, luxury cars including a gold Rolls-Royce, rented apartments and cash perks, were alleged to have been paid to ensure that the Saudis continued to buy from BAE under the so-called Al-Yamamah deal, rather than go to another country.
Al-Yamamah, “the Dove” in Arabic, has been worth £40 billion so far to BAE. It is the biggest defence contract in British history and has kept BAE in business for 20 years."
Finally. It says on our Guidelines page that SENSITIZE (click definition) means; to make aware or render sensitive. Let's reanimate collaborative community arts. Let's get busy people...
Mark Thomas / NEWSTATESMAN - 18th November, 2006
http://www.newstatesman.com/200611180003
TIMESONLINE / The Sunday Times - 17th December, 2006
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 36,00.html
Louis P. Burns aka Lugh / upstate
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