Some time ago I noticed that the UK DERA (Defense Research Agency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DERA ), you know the department of the MOD that does all our secret squirrel research and development, had been spun off into some bizzarely named publicly owned company (QinetiQ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QinetiQ ) in order to make some cash for the country from the neat stuff they develop. The shares were all protected from purchase and everything would be safe.
All well and good until you realise that it was the conservetive government that was doing this (stay with me here) during the time they thought it was a good idea to privitise the country’s hard earned national industries. All part of the policy.
After concervitive leader, John Major fell from grace ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Major ) he took directorships of several companies including a secretive organisation called the Carlyle Group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlyle_Group). There are a good many websites charting the extreme dodgyness about this company, a google search will furnish you with the details.
Anyway, and this is the reason for the posting, It turns out that Carlyle happened to purchase 50% of QinetiQ about two years ago for not a lot of money.
Well the Defense minister was talking on BBC radio 4 this morning about another subject when the interviewer asked about the latest Carlyle deal. Apparently they are buying more of the company this time £300m worth of company for £40m.
Tell me there isn’t some kind of back room deal there.
Over the last two decades we have sold or given away so much of this country, nothing short of civil war and revolution to get it back.
Viva la Revolucion