That businessmen lie, fix, fiddle and grow fat on deceit and duplicity is nothing new — it's what got capitalism where it is today. The only surprising feature of the Inspectors' Report on Lonrho Ltd is that it, was ever published.
But the ruling class in decline cannot even keep its own internal affairs secret. As the rats come up on the deck of the sinking ship, even Tory prime ministers have to talk of the unacceptable face of capitalism in a vain attempt to preserve the self-same system.
Not, of course, that the inspectors actually allege "fraud' or "bribery' - just 'concealment and special payments'. Lonrho made £836,499 worth of such payments between 1961 and 1973.
This poster to advertise the Rolling Stones album "Black and Blue' was intended as a major part of the promotion campaign in the US. It features a scantily black and blue from the Rolling Stones-and I love it.
And so what if directors like the incompetent Angus Ogilvy used business deals to enrich themselves; if Lonrho paid Duncan Sandys - a Lord now, if you please - £130,000 in the Cayman Islands to take a job; if shareholders were deceived, accounts altered, and Tiny" Rowland slapped in an expense account for £306,000 for a house. That's capitalism - it's just that the ruling class was better at covering it up in the past.
No wonder the press agonised about the plight of poor Angus resigning 'for the sake of the Queen' (Daily Mirror), or tried to dismiss the whole thing 'So what!', said the Guardian. It was left to the Telegraph with its 'Ammunition for the Labour left' to spell out the real fears of the ruling class. enough, the price of £13.20 should see that this report doesn't go round too many shop stewards committees.
But then Lonrho chief "Tiny Rowland blew the gaff on the lot. So what if Lonrho had sailed a bit close to the wind in Rhodesia -everyone else was sanction busting Some are more acceptable than others: Sandys (left) and Du Cann (right) remain as directors, but Ogilvy (centre) felt compelled to resign They shouldn't worry too much. LOO If the 660 pages of officialese weren't.
Most significantly, he revealed that in 1965 - only days after Smith had declared UDI in Rhodesia - - he had approached the Secretary of the Labour Cabinet with various courses of action which would have beer effective against Smtih.
*But the British Government side-stepped giving a karate chop to the would damage the image of British banking. As a result, British banking continues to be the commercial backbone of Rhodesia and British companies are the dependent ribs.' Amongst the spare ribs named are the state-run BP and Leyland, Rio Tinto Zinc, Tate and Lyle, Portland Cement and Cadbury Schweppes.
And that's not all, In conducting their investigations into Lonrho one of the two Government inspectors, Alan Heyman, travelled to South Africa to see Brigadier Buys and General Kruger of the hated South African political police, BOSS. I know that he said that Scotland Yard and BOSS had a close working relationship and Ml6 had allowed him to see files so confidential that two M16 men waited in the room while he read them.
So while Labour ministers like Michael Foot make appeals for us to stand by our comrades in South Africa in the wake of the Soweto massacre, the Labour Government condones and encourages the joint work of the political police of both countries If final comment was needed on how seriously the Labour Govern ment takes the row around Lonrho, it came a couple of days after the publication of the report. The Dep artment of Industry announced that it was advancing a loan of £4.9 million free of interest till the end of