Baron David Richards - A Shameless Profiteer

ex-General David Richards, a serving member of the House of Lords, is the former chief of the British armed forces (2010-13) and was the NATO commander of all ISAF forces in Afghanistan in 2006.

BARON RICHARDS ISAF

In this photo taken August 2006 in Kabul the General is seen with his British army translator during a security meeting with Afghan Commanders. In November 2006 the Gerneral’s translator, Daniel James, was arrested for spying.

Since retiring in 2013 the Baron has developed some significant business interests, as detailed in his House of Lords register of members interests (it is one of the longest of all of the ‘Lords’).

In December 2016 he was named in a report exposing £25-million of undeclared funding from Bahrain to the London based ‘defence’ think tank - the International Institute of Stratigic Studies, IISS. The Baron is both a senior fellow at IISS and a business advisor to both the King and Government of Bahrain.

From the published article:

"The claimed independence comes further into question when we consider the fact that former UK Chief of Defence Staff (2010 - 2013) and sitting House of Lords member General David Richards, is concurrently both a senior advisor to the IISS and an advisor to the government and King of Bahrain through a consulting company called Palliser Associates wholly owned by himself and his wife."
The IISS: The Myth and Ethics of Think-Tank Independence


Although sometimes referred to as Lord Richards he is actually only a Baron. The Baron was compelled to apologise after making a speech in the House of Lords in November 2016 asking for the retrospective disapplication of Human Rights laws to British military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This apology was on account of a complaint I had submitted to the House of Lords commissioner against the Baron.


My charges and allegations and the Barons reply were published by the House of Lords commissioner for standards and interests in February 2017 in her report titled The conduct of Lord Richards of Herstmonceux’.

The Baron said this in his apology:

“ … in the light of your letter, I can see that it would have been wiser and more obviously in conformity with the rules of the House, if I had made it clear that, as a former serving soldier, I am one of a group of persons who could possibly benefit from the retrospective disapplication of the European Convention on Human Rights.

I apologise for my failure not to have anticipated that this might have been seen as a relevant interest that I should have declared.” 
The conduct of Lord Richards of Herstmonceux


And… two identities on Companies House!




To be updated…

Truly, for some of us nothing is written, unless we write it 
© Anthony C Heaford - The Quiet Mancunian