Haven’t gone into it in any depth but a quarter of the much lauded Icelandic Cabinet seem to be up to their necks…Jail a few bankers but move your dosh off shore.Is this evasion or avoidance tho
Two items abot this story’s tenuous links to Vladimir Putin at the top of the BBC News front page.
Silence, currently, from the Whitehall funded news organisation on the involvement of the current prime minister’s father. Surprise surprise.
Tenuous?
It isn’t just the BBC. There was a discussion show about it on German TV and Putin was the main person mentioned throughout.
I don’t expect much to come out of it, not because it isn’t newsworthy, but because moving money around from bank account to bank account is boring to the public.
Tenuous in the sense that it is somebody stated in the story as a “friend” of Putin that is involved rather than the “direct” involvement of other current and former world leaders and their families.
There are lots of people who can be called your friend - but you only have one father.
It’s telling that when “12 current and former world leaders” are directly involved that the only world leader mentioned by name on BBC front page and on German TV show is Putin, who (from a quick read of the ICIJ and BBC stories) seems to be involved by association only.
When does a Cellist need the services of a company like Mossack Fonseca.
That 25 million dollar yacht doesn’t run on thin air. Putin has to have a means of paying his bills and the report goes some of the way to explaining the finances of a not so humble public servant.
You can’t be so naive as to believe that Putin isn’t involved in graft on a massive scale.
As I said the subject is boring and about the only way to sex it up is to use well known names like Putin and the best footballer in the world. Messi is getting similar coverage not because he was engaged in questionable activities to the same extend but because “Messi is a tax evader” is good clickbait.
Now you’re misquoting yourself. You said front page of the BBC, which does not name anyone. I presume you meant the actual article, which names 6 leaders.
That is totally wrong. It is not just Putin. I see the Icelandic PM was sat down for an interview and walked out when they ambushed him about his letterbox companies. That has been shown more tonight because it is more newsworthy. Everyone loves seeing a politician flustered and in flight. Putin is mentioned too but it is dry as they have no video to sex it up.
Sure, that could well all be true. I’m certainly not defending anyone, cellist, Putin or Messi!
I still think it is strange that the BBC website front page had two mentions of Putin in item titles but no mention of the countries very own prime minister who according to the initial info would appear to be more closely involved (i.e. father vs friend) or to any of the current world leaders who were directly involved.
Show how Cameron benefits. Where is his yacht? He lives in a terraced house with dodgy foundations (albeit in a central part of London).
The other part of the discovery which isn’t interesting is all the poor Lady MacBeth’s who have been dispossessed by their powerful captain of industry husbands. Nobody gives a damn about them or their husbands except for the taxman in their home countries.
I wrote “Two items [about Putin] at the top of the BBC News front page.”
At bbc.com/news there are two items at the top of the page with Putin in the title and none with Cameron
