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’.
- Supporting the bombing of Yemen.
- Arming Israel.
- Occupying the Chagos Islands.
- Supporting US aggression.
- Arming Colombia.
- Maintaining the global network of tax havens.
- Conniving with the CIA in secret renditions.
- The special relationship with Saudi Arabia.
- Bombing Syria.
- Shell in Nigeria.
- British companies in occupied Western Sahara.
- Supporting Oman.
- British mining companies in Africa.
- Supporting the New Alliance for Food Security.
- Promoting the privatisation of health and education in developing countries.
- Little Englanders in Brussels.
- Lonmin at Marikana.
- Failing to support Palestine.
- Backing Turkey’s war on the Kurds.
- Opposition to a Financial Transactions Tax.
- Aiding forced relocations in Ethiopia.
- Dismantling of climate change policies.
- Backing Bahraini repression.
- Refusing to give up nuclear weapons.
- Rio Tinto in Madagascar, Mongolia and Indonesia.
- Championing free trade in Africa.
- Refusing to supporting binding legal regulation of corporations overseas.
- City of London as the home of global financial speculation.
- British corporate tax abusers in Zambia.
- Gun-running to Syria.
- British American Tobacco corruption.
- Pushing low corporate taxes in Africa.
- British private security companies.
- Secrecy in the British Virgin Islands.
- War in Helmand.
- The invasion of Iraq.
- Drone strikes in the Middle East.
- Complicity in torture at Bagram.
- Privatising the world.
- Anglo Platinum in South Africa.
- DFID supporting Monsanto and Syngenta.
- Tax avoiders SAB Miller, Glencore and Associated British Foods.
- Support for Paul Kagame.
- Refusing to provide justice for the Mau Mau war.
- Arming Pakistan.
- Championing corporate-focused investment liberalisation.
- DFID funding large-scale land grabs in Africa.
- British mining companies at Cerrejon, Colombia.
- The revolving door between officials and corporations.
- Vedanta in Zambia and India.
- The City of London as a tax haven.
- Aiding privatisation consultancies.
- DFID’s support for big business.
- Tate & Lyle in Cambodia.
- DFID working with Coca-Cola.
- Opposition to agro-ecological farming.
- Barclays promoting tax havens.
- British accountancy firms tax advice to corporations.
- Human rights abuses in Iraq.
- Acacia Mining in Tanzania.
- Supporting Guantanamo.
- BAE Systems.
- New Forests Company in Uganda.
- Following US policy towards Cuba.
- Support for the World Bank.
- Arming Ubekistan.
- Trafigura’s toxic waste in Ivory Coast.
- UK Export Finance Department as promoter of arms and debt.
- Support for the International Finance Corporation.
- Arming Indonesia.
- DFID backing the Gates Foundation.
- Backing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
- Treatment of Julian Assange.
- Agrica in Tanzania.
- British banks financing coal mining.
- Supporting the Investor-State Dispute Mechanism.
- BP in Colombia.
- Montericco Metals in Peru.
- Supporting al-Sisi in Egypt …..
This list could go on and on – the crimes of the UK are never ending!