Butler to the World: The book the oligarchs don’t want you to read - how Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals

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What first drew my attention to this book was its beginning with descriptions of Britain's acquisition of the Suez Canal and post-WWII period as its Empire collapsed, which are both historical periods I have studied so it was interesting to have another in-depth look at them in this book.

Chodzi o skandal podatkowy z Nadhimem Zahawim, przewodniczącym Partii Konserwatywnej i ministra bez teki, który chciał sobie oszukać brytyjski fiskus. Raje podatkowe takie jak Brytyjskie Wyspy Dziewicze, Kajmany, Gibraltar pozwala grabieżcom, multimilionerom i globalnym korporacjom unikać płacenia podatków i na pranie brudnych pieniędzy. With the brilliant concept of Britain as the butler, Bullough lifts the lid and explains in a very clear and intelligible way why and how Britain is facilitating illicit finance across the world. It is the City of London together with the legal and accountancy professions using their skills to help the super-rich hide their wealth offshore, evade tax and avoid having to account to anyone except themselves. Perhaps some readers had been left feeling all Russians were complicit in the crimes of their leaders.The first few chapters cover a good bit of pop history, interweaving personal stories and grander historical trends. New role for Britain since losing its empire officially (Suez crisis) is providing financial / offshore services to anyone who will pay them for it. These arrangements attract varied classes of persons from politicians who have used their power to siphon off enormous wealth from their own countries to criminals wishing to hide illegally acquired profits from drug smuggling and other activities. We pride ourselves on values of fair play and the rule of law, but few countries do more to frustrate global anti-corruption efforts. Sometimes, the closeness leads the two countries into terrible mistakes, as with the Iraq War; sometimes, as with defeating the Nazis or filming This Is Spinal Tap, the exchange leads to something magnificent.

If you have ever wondered quite why so many prime pieces of real estate in the ritziest areas appear to be unoccupied, this is the book for you .The Suez Crisis of 1956 was Britain's twentieth-century nadir, the moment when the once superpower was bullied into retreat.

Independent overseas territories a big part of this - they have autonomy to create tax havens but are linked to Britain to reap other associated benefits (British courts, the perceived security of assets I. We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from.

I'm glad I discovered Oliver as a guest on a favourite podcast as his coverage of this eye opening topic is comprehensive and the writing entertaining. Here's how summarizes what I just explained: "It operates as a gigantic loophole, undercutting other countries’ rules, massaging down tax rates, neutering regulations, laundering foreign criminals’ money. It’s possible that he had been concerned I would refuse to open my address book to him, but it seemed not to have occurred to him that I would have no address book to open; that, essentially, the people he was looking for would not exist. Gibraltar doesn’t get much press any more, but what happened there is textbook government caving to finance.

Oliver Bullough's Butler to the World shows where the chums and others have led us: to an underpowered, rather than superpowered, UK that's subservient to "tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals". It took even Bullough a while, though, to nail the exact bent-double relationship that many among the elite of this country’s lawmakers and bankers and lawyers and accountants have adopted toward this global kleptocracy. It's an important book that helps explain the current situation, and the title is great but unfortunately -- it's boring. Though the UK prides itself on values of fair play and the rule of law, few countries do more to frustrate global anti-corruption efforts.Unfortunately the final few chapters, with the exception of the one on money laundering, do feel a little slow.