Isn’t Britain ‘great’?

Historian Mark Curtis cites some of the actions of successive British governments, barely mentioned by the corporate media, which go someway to understanding what makes Britain ‘great’.

  1. Supporting the bombing of Yemen.
  2. Arming Israel.
  3. Occupying the Chagos Islands.
  4. Supporting US aggression.
  5. Arming Colombia.
  6. Maintaining the global network of tax havens.
  7. Conniving with the CIA in secret renditions.
  8. The special relationship with Saudi Arabia.
  9. Bombing Syria.
  10. Shell in Nigeria.
  11. British companies in occupied Western Sahara.
  12. Supporting Oman.
  13. British mining companies in Africa.
  14. Supporting the New Alliance for Food Security.
  15. Promoting the privatisation of health and education in developing countries.
  16. Little Englanders in Brussels.
  17. Lonmin at Marikana.
  18. Failing to support Palestine.
  19. Backing Turkey’s war on the Kurds.
  20. Opposition to a Financial Transactions Tax.
  21. Aiding forced relocations in Ethiopia.
  22. Dismantling of climate change policies.
  23. Backing Bahraini repression.
  24. Refusing to give up nuclear weapons.
  25. Rio Tinto in Madagascar, Mongolia and Indonesia.
  26. Championing free trade in Africa.
  27. Refusing to supporting binding legal regulation of corporations overseas.
  28. City of London as the home of global financial speculation.
  29. British corporate tax abusers in Zambia.
  30. Gun-running to Syria.
  31. British American Tobacco corruption.
  32. Pushing low corporate taxes in Africa.
  33. British private security companies.
  34. Secrecy in the British Virgin Islands.
  35. War in Helmand.
  36. The invasion of Iraq.
  37. Drone strikes in the Middle East.
  38. Complicity in torture at Bagram.
  39. Privatising the world.
  40. Anglo Platinum in South Africa.
  41. DFID supporting Monsanto and Syngenta.
  42. Tax avoiders SAB Miller, Glencore and Associated British Foods.
  43. Support for Paul Kagame.
  44. Refusing to provide justice for the Mau Mau war.
  45. Arming Pakistan.
  46. Championing corporate-focused investment liberalisation.
  47. DFID funding large-scale land grabs in Africa.
  48. British mining companies at Cerrejon, Colombia.
  49. The revolving door between officials and corporations.
  50. Vedanta in Zambia and India.
  51. The City of London as a tax haven.
  52. Aiding privatisation consultancies.
  53. DFID’s support for big business.
  54. Tate & Lyle in Cambodia.
  55. DFID working with Coca-Cola.
  56. Opposition to agro-ecological farming.
  57. Barclays promoting tax havens.
  58. British accountancy firms tax advice to corporations.
  59. Human rights abuses in Iraq.
  60. Acacia Mining in Tanzania.
  61. Supporting Guantanamo.
  62. BAE Systems.
  63. New Forests Company in Uganda.
  64. Following US policy towards Cuba.
  65. Support for the World Bank.
  66. Arming Ubekistan.
  67. Trafigura’s toxic waste in Ivory Coast.
  68. UK Export Finance Department as promoter of arms and debt.
  69. Support for the International Finance Corporation.
  70. Arming Indonesia.
  71. DFID backing the Gates Foundation.
  72. Backing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
  73. Treatment of Julian Assange.
  74. Agrica in Tanzania.
  75. British banks financing coal mining.
  76. Supporting the Investor-State Dispute Mechanism.
  77. BP in Colombia.
  78. Montericco Metals in Peru.
  79. Supporting al-Sisi in Egypt …..

Originally published: Mark Curtis (Blog)

One Comment

  1. This list could go on and on – the crimes of the UK are never ending!

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