An Offord they couldn’t refuse?

Malcolm Offord and No Borders

Written by Andrew Rosie:

“The Scotsman” reports to-day that Tory members in Lothian are upset that Malcolm Offord, who donated £150,000 to the party has been endorsed by Ruth Davidson as a Lothian List candidate over more established campaigners.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scottish-tories-face-cronyism-accusations-after-ps150000-donor-wins-lothians-list-seat-endorsement-3128233

Image result for Malcolm Offord

However, Offord’s main public political activity centred round the London based No Borders campaign which was given unrivalled promotion by the BBC in the run up to September 2014.

Stalbury Trustees contributed £50,000 to the No Borders,” the non political grass roots” campaigning group set up by the Greenock-born financier Malcolm Offord who chipped in £20,000 and distillers William Grant & Sons donated £25,000.  

According to papers lodged by Stalbury Trustees with Companies House, the directors included the 7th Earl of Verulam; Lord Charles Edward Vere Cecil; the Marquis of Salisbury Robert Michael James Cecil and the Most Honourable Robert Edward Peter, Marquess of Salisbury.

In the No Borders video, they claimed “It’s for people who want to put their hands up and say ‘you know what? I don’t want to leave the union. It works for me. In fact, I rather quite like it. It’s rather like a cup of hot chocolate and I’d like to keep it.’. The status quo is always fine for millionaires.

In January 2016, The Herald reported that No Borders was fined by Companies House for failing to produce its referendum accounts in time despite having spent £462,800 during the 2014 campaign..

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14275540.unionist-indyref-campaign-group-no-borders-fined-after-finally-lodging-accounts/

The leaked Scotland in Union list of donors supplied to the Electoral Commission showed that Malcolm Offord donated £7500 on 15 September 2016.

Malcolm Offord is on the board of the Scottish Rugby Union and has large stakes in Cashmaster (Holdings) Ltd and private equity and property firm Badenoch & Co.

He has also worked for the London based right wing think tank centre for social justice whose funding is, as usual, shrouded in secrecy

An account of the BBC’s promotion of the non political “grass roots” No Borders campaign group and be seen here,

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2014/05/bbc-propaganda-hits-new-all-time-low/

14 thoughts on “An Offord they couldn’t refuse?

  1. Oh Dear! I am hearing good things about Malcolm Offord’s work in rugby. He is being seen as one of the good guys around Murrayfield.

    Still, nobody’s perfect.

    Like

  2. Labour do it on the cheap.
    Gotta have a banquet or two.
    The list system in Scotland is operating like the HoL in England where peerages can be bought and allow non elected people to decide what happens in Scotland.
    I agree that minority parties must have representation in parliament but if
    their representatives are appointed through their ability to pay then the system needs to be reformed.

    Liked by 5 people

  3. Brings back memories of being faced with the No Borders advert in a cinema I think it was! Spoiled my night out.

    I recall this other profile of Mr Offord written back in 2014.

    https://athousandflowers.net/2014/05/02/weekly-wanker-028-malcolm-offord/

    Presumably this is the same Mr Offord who represents ‘The Association of Independent Expatriate Tax Practitioners’ on the HMRC-sponsored, and wonderfully titled, ‘Wealthy External Stakeholder Forum’.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Another non entity trying the get influence and access to public money to illegally ripe off the public purse. Typical Tory. Appalling.

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  5. Put simply, neo-liberal political economy supports cultural patriarchy, which hurts the poor and destroys the planet. Scotland might be better able to defend itself from English Torydum, if ‘our’ team were not such a bunch of opportunist science deniers and craven, self-serving, numpties.

    What has economics got to do with it? The impact of socioeconomic factors on mental health and the case for collective action
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-018-0063-2

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  6. There should be a law that says a person who has donated a substantial amount of money to a political party cannot become an MP.

    Im sure that any existing MP would have to resign as an MP if they wish to donate to a political party ive never heard of existing MPs donating to a political party so thats why i believe they are not allowed to.

    To me it seems silly to allow a future MP to donate to a political party because it rewards their donation with money from the public , in other words they benefit from it personally.
    Democracy is undone by this practice of buying a seat in government we have to stop it.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. It stinks, and it’s corrupt when all is said and done. Sickening to the core to read this, manipulation and propaganda can’t exist without mone and money means power in 2021.
      I see mr nobody, but jumped up Jim Murphy appeared on my twitter, blocked now, but he seems to be making a comeback, what a nasty piece of work he is, anti Scotland, anti democracy, a right wing nut job.

      So Mr. Offord worked for a right wing think tank for social justice, somehow there seems a massive contradiction in that!

      Liked by 3 people

  7. Scotland’s political economy and culture are stunted in development, and deformed through standing under the cosh of English Torydum. Yet here in Scotland, those who allege to support social and environmental justice, are openly hostile towards the biological rights of (female) individuals. Such politics aren’t merely inept, they are criminal, as we are all a part of nature. So we all deserve a fair shake.

    The biopsychosocial approach and global mental health: Synergies and opportunities
    https://www.indjsp.org/article.asp?issn=0971-9962;year=2017;volume=33;issue=4;spage=291;epage=296;aulast=Babalola

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  8. “No Borders – the non political grass roots” campaigning group!

    Given what is now known about No Borders and its discredited promotion as a grassroots organisation, is it the case that Mr Offard in 2014 set out to deceive Scotland’s electorate?

    And if so, is he really fit to be an elected member of the Holyrood Parliament? Hopefully, if he is selected as a candidate, this may yet backfire on the Tories in Scotland.

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  9. As far as I understand things, Nob Orders was a well-funded and state sponsored PR exercise that was characterized by dishonesty and false representation. As such, it was clearly an example of epistemic violence against Scots, which was aimed at maintaining the neo-liberal status-quo that is ripping the human/moral content out of culture.

    As its’ principle aim was gas-lighting Scots into not defending their social, cultural and economic rights from English Torydum, a.k.a. British nationalism, it most certainly was not compatible with social democracy.

    Propaganda managed democracy: the UK and the lessons of Iraq
    https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/1376/

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