MPs call for title to be stripped from Thatcher

[emad]

London Evening Standard
18 January 2005
MPs called in Parliament today for Sir Mark Thatcher to be stripped of his hereditary baronetcy.

A Commons motion has been tabled urging that "immediate steps" should be taken to do this after "his plea of guilty to helping to finance a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea".

The signatories also appeal to the Government to bring forward the necessary legislation.

The motion is sponsored by Neil Gerrard, Labour MP for Walthamstow, who said: "There ought to be a mechanism available by which somebody in this situation can easily be removed from it.

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/15997768?source=PA

ONLY the Queen can strip a hereditary...so Poodle's sitting pretty..

[sui generis]

1. this is stupid

sorry to any brits on here but this is pure reactionary pooftery.

He funded a helicopter that he thought was going to be used for humanitarian purposes. He couldn't deny that he funded the helicopter or that the helicopter was used wrongly, whether or not he had any knowledge of that.

[Nihil]

2. Which bit is stupid?

The bit about someone actually trying to start the punishment cycle
or the bit where he expected people to believe his claim that he was
acting for humanitarian purposes?

[sui generis]

3. d, all of the above

I repeat, stupid.

What on earth do you think he personally had to gain by funding an insurgency? With one helicopter?

What a ridiculous thought. If it doesn't add up it doesn't add up. I personally know how easily an unscrupulous person can take a generous person for a ride.

I have been in a situation where I had to defend giving money to someone that was used completely differently than I expected, and I couldn't do anything but agree that I had given money. The only thing that saved my ass was that I could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that my interests didn't intersect those activities.

[DARE to HOPE]

4. Give me a break--you're acting as if WE are stupid...

Guilty. He is guilty. He is greedy, stupid and guilty, with all the rest of the Bush-connected criminals.

God is faithful and just. And they think losing a baronet title is tough. Oooh.

[yellowcanine]

5. Nice hypothesis but he DID plead guilty. He may not have known all of the

details but rich folks don't put their money on the line unless they have a pretty good idea where it is going. As for only funding one helicopter - that is all that was needed to bring back the opposition leader. No need to buy a fleet of helicopters to transport one person. And Mark Thatcher is not off the hook yet. He is still wanted in EG, which makes him an international fugitive.

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Do you know that he made his money from arms deals?

He's not some innocent with a bit of spare cash who got caught up in this. He first made his millions from commission on huge arms sales by British companies to Saudi Arabia (though all he seemed to add to the deal was the name "Thatcher"). He was also investigated by the South African police over loans to policemen and civil servants.

Mark Thatcher and scruples have never crossed paths.

[nickine9]

9. as a brit i accept your apology but...

he did plead guilty to what i would consider to be a "terrorist offence". since 2001 we have arrested over 600 people in britain for suspected terrorist offences (most of them not from such a privileged background) of the 600 or so about 10% have actually come to trial and only 3 or 4 have been convicted. a significant number are still held without any propsect of a trial or access to adequate legal aid.

I dont give a flying f*ck about his title i want to see the b*st*rd banged up in Belmarsh prison whilst someone beats the truth out of him. if he can prove his innocence in those circumstances i will be convinced. until then he is a self confessed terrorist scumbag.

Also i think he is trying to get a new visa for entry to the USA, if you want him you can have him.

[RogueTrooper]

6. ***sigh***

How times change. Once upon a time an Englishman would get a baronetcy for invading a foreign country. Ah... Those were the days.

[sushi]

8. I believe he's guilty

He is an arrogant @#$%, living in the past, acting like a colonialist. Only his last name saved him. He belongs in prison.