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This Is All Our Defence is Worth?

’30 Pieces Of Silver’ by Cornelia Parker

Isn’t it enough that Dick Cheney’s Halliburton now owns or runs most of the UK defence establishment via dodgy PFI deals?

Now Blair is handing over our defence research capability to the corporations too. Not only that, if the sale goes ahead it will be the first full flotation of a public sector entity since Labour assumed power in 1997.

How nice for the the private-equity Carlyle Group , though, who will make a nice, fat profit from the flotation. At an estimated valuation of ?1.1bn, the listing will net Carlyle ?340m for its 31% Qinetiq stake. The group, which has extensive links with the US government, paid ?42.4m for its stake in 2002.

Qinetiq , had been The Defence Research Agency until it was privatised by New Labour with an eye to eventual public flotation. The agency ( known as DRA), had been an agency of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time the DRA was Britain’s largest science and technology organisation, having been created by the Major government in 1991 as an amalgamation of the Admiralty Research Establishment (ARE), Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE ), and the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE).

What’s Tony Blair’s interest? Well, he has his future to think of, and it has a big ‘Carlyle’ written all over it.

Meet The Carlyle Group:

George Bush, Former US President and Vice President, Former Director of the CIA Carlyle Chairman/CEO

Carlucci, Former Secretary of Defense and Deputy Directorof the CIA
Carlyle Senior Counselor

James Baker, Former Secretary of State under Bush Sr.,Sec. of Treasury, Reagan
Administration
Carlyle Senior Counselor

Darman, White House Budget Advisor,Bush / Clinton Administrations
Carlyle Managing Director

Ferdinand Ramos, Former President of the Phillipines
Carlyle Asia Advisory Board

John Major, Former Prime Minister of England
Carlyle Europe Chairman

Et tu, Captain Underpants?

The Ex-presidents’ Club, The Guardian
Oliver Burkeman and Julian Borger Wednesday October 31, 2001

It is hard to imagine an address closer to the heart of American power. The offices of the Carlyle Group are on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, midway between the White House and the Capitol building, and within a stone’s throw of the headquarters of the FBI and numerous government departments. The address reflects Carlyle’s position at the very center of the Washington establishment, but amid the frenetic politicking that has occupied the higher reaches of that world in recent weeks, few have paid it much attention. Elsewhere, few have even heard of it…

But since the start of the “war on terrorism”, the firm – unofficially valued at $13 .5bn – has taken on an added significance. Carlyle has become the thread which indirectly links American military policy in Afghanistan to the personal financial fortunes of its celebrity employees, not least the current president’s father. And, until earlier this month, Carlyle provided another curious link to the Afghan crisis: among the firm’s multi-million-dollar investors were members of the family of Osama bin Laden More

Blair, like Major before him, has always envied the plutocrats and wanted to be one. It looks like he’ll get his wish, just like Major did. Tony Blair is so entangled with the Bushes and other corrupt Republican party members that he’s willing to sign over the UK’s defense capability to them or their proxies, as long as he gets a decent slice of the pie. Even if you hold no brief for the arms industry, and I certainly don’t, to sell off the control of your defence establishments to any Tom, Dick or Harry with the money seems nothing short of criminally irresponsible, especially when there are such serious doubts about such obvious conflicts of interest:

Blair off to Join $30BN World Elite? By Rupert Hamer, The Sunday Mirror Sunday 21 August 2005

Tony Blair is expected to join one of the most exclusive groups of businessmen in the world after he leaves Downing Street.

The PM is being lined up for a highly lucrative position with the Carlyle Group – an American-based investment giant with strong links to the White House and the defense industry.

The firm has been nicknamed “The Ex-Presidents Club” because it has had a host of formerworld leaders on its books including George Bush Senior, his former secretary of state James Baker and former British PM John Major. There a also a large number of former US Army top brass.

Mr. Blair has been keeping quiet about his plans after his departure from Number 10 -which could be as early as 2007 according to some Labour insiders.

But sources in the City have revealed that he is “seriously considering” a high-profile role with Carlyle – which manages $30billion (?20million) of investments worldwide. The job could net Mr. Blair up to ?500,000 a year for only a few days work a month giving speeches and making “networking” trips on behalf of the company.

The move comes after it emerged that the premier’s financial affairs are in an increasingly perilous state His dream home has crashed in value by ?700,000 in just
seven months and he and Cherie have to find ?13,000 a month for the mortgage.The ?3million loan the couple took out to buy the house in London’s Connaught Square is
17 times Mr. Blair’s current salary.

More

Today we also heard that Blair protege and Opus Dei zealot Ruth Kelly allowed the appointment of known paedophiles to schools. How much longer must we tolerate this corrupt and shoddy New Labour experiment?