Wed 13 Mar 2019, 05:54 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER by M Langabeer, Newton Abbot CLP (personal capacity
Channel 4’s Dispatches programme investigated those that have benefited from the uncertainty around Britain’s exit from the EU. Investigative reporter, Antony Barnett interviewed an estate agent who stated that since the referendum, sales of properties valued at £15million or more had increased by 40%. This, he believed, was the result of a fall in sterling.
Barnett interviewed a leading Brexiteer, Rees-Mogg, who has recently bought a house for over £5million. When asked if he received around £7 million as a result of a 15% shareholding in a investment company that he help to create, Rees-Mogg declined to respond. What was revealing is that the register for MP’s income does not require them to divulge this information.
In times of uncertainty, the wealthy buy gold. The purchase of gold has risen by 219% in the past 12 months. Another leading Brexiteer, Steve Baker, has been a beneficiary as a result of a £70,000 investment in a company that sells gold. Barnett interviewed the boss of upmarket hotel chain, Rocco Forte. A supporter of Brexit who has benefited from the fall of sterling, he stated that there will be winners and losers as a result of Brexit. The losers are often small companies that have increased costs and are unable to pass this on to consumers.
Probably the most obscene aspect of Brexit, is speculators who bet on the hope that sterling fell and make a fortune as a result. One so-called investor also happened to donate £600,000 to the Leave campaign. The biggest investment company that is engaged in what is termed ‘shorting’, has George Osborne a leading Remainer on their payroll.
Finally, the programme highlighted many leading Tories, both in the Remain and Brexit camps, receiving large sums of cash for speaking at city and business functions. Top of the list was Boris Johnson, who charges £100,000 for the privilege. Paying such large sums of money, listening to these numbskulls is a mystery to me.
The programme reveals more than who profits from Brexit. It reveals the rottenness of capitalism. To transform society alone socialist lines, Labour must bring the top 100 companies into public ownership. That’s what I call real control.
