In late January 2010, a sleek Executive Jet landed at RAF Northolt in London, returning 6 passengers from Davos, Switzerland. Two of the passengers on the flight, donated by Tory Treasurer Michael Spencer’s IPGL Ltd, were then opposition leaders David Cameron and George Osborne. The identity of the four other passengers remains a mystery.
Fast forward to 28th April 2017. Metallic silver and blacked-out Mercedes shuttled HSBC executives to elevated pews at the QEII Centre in London for HSBC bank’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). By this time both Conservative leaders had resigned from UK politics. One day prior, Osborne had recorded a fee of £68,225.00 in his final parliamentary declaration form as a sitting MP, for a five hour speech in HSBC’s offices.
HSBC is the largest bank in Europe, the seventh largest in the world. For this year’s annual sermon, there was no controversy to attract the TV cameras: no Panama Papers, no Swiss Leaks or Mexican money laundering scandals. Two HSBC AGM regulars, Nicholas Wilson (Mr Ethical on Twitter), and Fionn Travers-Smith from Move Your Money, were there to ask probing questions.
