Chums

[Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman. An internal HSBC report traces money transferred by PPE Medpro to accounts that benefited the pair © Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images]

This prompted by the report at reference 1. It seems that the Barrowmans, while perhaps not that hot when it comes to making surgical gowns under contract, are very smart movers when it comes to shuffling money around funny little accounts in the Isle of Man. To the point where HSBC felt the need to take a look.

And we used to be so smug and proud about the way that we run our country. Dodgy goings on in the Ukraine or Guatemala maybe, but this was the United Kingdom where we do things properly. Certainly not a kelptocracy, nor even a chumocracy. Certainly not into taking money for making chums into Lords and Ladies with full voting rights. With special mates' rates for the fancy dress that goes with them.

PS: I wondered whether the snap above was taken at some black-tie charity event for the great and the good. All in aid of save the donkey or save the children you know. But then, perhaps not: when you look at a larger version of the snap, the background, such as it is, it very dull. Might even be a church hall. Slumming it. Not so very glitzy at all.

References

Reference 1: HSBC froze accounts linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone during corruption probe Bank flagged ‘discrepancies’ in explanations provided by Mone and husband Douglas Barrowman - Anna Gross, Stephen Morris, Jim Pickard, Financial Times - 2022

Reference 2: https://ppemedpro.com/. Not a website to write home about. Very low key.

Reference 3: https://timwhitbyphotography.photoshelter.com/index. Seemingly, mainly into fancy snaps of people.