Tag: Germany

Made In Deception – Gulbenkian and Philbrick
As art fraudster Inigo Philbrick is arrested and dragged onto a private plane by the FBI, his on-off lover ‘Made in Chelsea’s’ Victoria Baker Harber shows no sympathy for victims; meanwhile fellow art conwoman Angela Gulbenkian has been deservedly detained in Lisbon
- ‘Mini Madoff’ Inigo Philbrick, ex-Jay Jopling employee and on-off squeeze of gobby ‘Made in Chelsea’ participant Victoria Baker Harber, snared in Vanuatu, Oceania last Friday.
- Philbrick had bizarrely spent his time as a fugitive from justice petting “abandoned” dogs.
- Fellow socialite and art fraudster Angela Gulbenkian, whose victims include Chelsea based interior designers Percy Bass, snared on the same day in Lisbon.
- She traded on her loose connections to one of the richest families in the world, the Gulbenkians. Connected foundations and museums consistently have denied any association with the German born crook.
- The two con artists are unconnected in terms of their nefarious activities and victims named thus far, but their paths may likely have crossed given the social circles they operated in and around.
‘The Talented Mr Philbrick’ was how one art newspaper somewhat cornily lauded Inigo Philbrick in the wake of this dastardly double dealer being exposed as a Madoff of the art world. He was snared in Vanuatu in Oceania last Friday whilst on Tuesday in Lisbon, fellow trader-on-a-well-known-name Angela Gulbenkian was taken into “preventative detention” to be extradited back to the UK.

Speaking to The Steeple Times on Friday, Jane Morris, managing director of acclaimed Walton Street interior designers Percy Bass remarked:

“Angela Gulbenkian came to Percy Bass to get her flat decorated. We did the work, but never got paid. She forged a bank transfer note pretending to be part of the Gulbenkian Foundation. Percy Bass had a judgment against her, but she fled abroad.”

Now, in addition and facing charges relating to a £1.1 million ($1.4 million, €1.2 million or درهم5 million) Kusama pumpkin sculpture and a £115,000 ($142,000, €127,000 or درهم522,000) Warhol print of Queen Elizabeth II and the theft of £50,000 ($62,000, €55,000 or درهم227,000) from a woman named Jacqui Ball, 38-year-old socialite Gulbenkian is ludicrously still claiming to be an “art collector” and linked to what she lists as the “Gulbenkian Private Art Collection” on Instagram. She is, in fact, even by her own admission, the owner of “just three works of art” and the daughter of an optometrist from Munich, Germany.

Angela Ischwang (as this shameless swindler was born) supposedly moved to London in the early 2000s to study politics. She subsequently met and married Duarte Gulbenkian, the great-grand nephew of the one-time richest man in the world Calouste Gulbenkian, and went into the art business in around 2016.

Listing herself as someone who “brokers high end arts works” through “valuable contacts,” this crooked conwoman – whose suggestions of links to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation have been firmly denied by the trustees of those organisations – Gulbenkian is surprisingly linked to only one dissolved company, Doctor Duve Medical Skin Care Ltd. of Southwark Bridge Road, SE1.

Charged in relation to the Kusama pumpkin sculpture and the money stolen from Ball in May last year, Angela Gulbenkian was released on unconditional bail in September 2019 after appearing at Southwark Crown Court. She then failed to appear in May 2020 and a European Arrest Warrant was issued for her arrest. Now, ‘Awful Ange’ – as an embarrassed former friend told us she now calls her – will be rightly returned to face her comeuppance and this time she’ll be unlikely to get bail.

Philbrick meanwhile – who was until recently subject to ‘Where’s Wally?’ like speculation since having disappeared off the face of the planet after last being seen with his brash Made In Chelsea motormouth on-off lover Victoria Baker Harber in Australia in late 2019 – was found last Friday in Port Vila, Vanuata, an island nation in the South Pacific.

“Grabbed” by a mix of uniformed and ununiformed cops, the “startled” 33-year-old crook and estranged son of museum director Harry Philbrick – was “hustled” into a police car and taken to the local airport reported Artnet News on Wednesday. “A large Gulfstream jet was waiting on the tarmac” and this, “under instructions from the FBI,” flew him to New York.

Facing allegations of theft, misappropriation, borrowing money against artworks he did not even own and selling overlapping shares of artworks, Ponzi-like pillock Philbrick had supposedly been hiding out in a “house of an expat who died in a tragic accident.” Bizarrely, he had been busying his days helping “abandoned” dogs and of him one local remarked: “He was always calling me about an animal he found.”

Now in chains for his crimes against amongst others the Reuben family, Philbrick faces not only a real-life trial but also further exposure in the media. One-time friend, but ultimately a victim of the shameless scammer, art writer, curator and dealer Kenny Schachter this week wrote:

“I have no doubt that Inigo will capitalize on our collective financial misfortune and turn it into a multimedia bonanza for himself. As far as my own movie and documentary projects, for which deals will be announced shortly, all I want and/or expect is that they make good on part of the money Inigo took from me.”

Meanwhile last Sunday, dippy dope Victoria Baker Harber showed no regret for her association with Philbrick – a man who ferried her around in a private jet at the expense of others – in retweeting an attack on Schachter by someone named ‘Koogs’ on Twitter on 14^th June. They opined: “Who quotes themselves?? Get over it! Your wife is a billionaire! Are you crying about cash or cock?”

Though at around £16.2 million ($20 million, €17.9 million or درهم73.5 million) Inigo Philbrick’s total scam is far bigger than Angela Gulbenkian’s, the effects are the same for the victims of these high society crooks: May the authorities now chuck the book at this rotten pair of ratbags.

Pictured top – Con artist Angela Gulbenkian appeared at Southwark Crown Court in September 2019 “in a blue dress decorated with silver stars and black Christian Louboutin high heels” according to ‘Metro’ (right); art fraudster Inigo Philbrick poses looking startled as television screen loving terror Victoria Baker Harber attempts to look sexually provocative.

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Aided by their surnames –Inigo Philbrick duped the art world and the use of the surname he shares with his estranged art curator father certainly aided him in his ‘endeavours’; Angela Gulbenkian traded on her connections to the legendary art collecting, billionaire Gulbenkian family also.

You’re snared! – A newspaper frontpage chronicling Inigo Philbrick’s detainment; social media users mocked the former fugitive with one joking: “OK bye now!”

The ultimate deceiver – In March, Angela Gulbenkian posted an image accompanied by the caption: “Life is art!” on her Instagram page. She hashtagged it with amongst other things #letsgofar and #successfulwomen, but neglected to add the truth about herself: “My life is the art of deception!” is what it should have read.

No sympathy for Philbrick’s victims – Victoria Baker Harber took to Twitter on 14th June to retweet an unpleasant comment mocking one of her on-off lover Inigo Philbrick’s victims, Kenny Schachter.

Living the high life – Inigo Philbrick liked private jets and swilling champagne in the company of amongst others Victoria Baker Harber; he’s now getting used to porridge.
June 20, 2020
Rolls-Royce isn’t Rolls-Royce but it is Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce issues a press release to try and stop the media mistakenly saying they are Rolls-Royce; they want to highlight the difference between PLC and Cars

When you think of Rolls-Royce, you may think of handcrafted limousines made with the most exquisite materials. You might think of the royalty, heads of state and stars who’ve owned such vehicles, but one thing’s for sure, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, a “wholly-owned subsidiary of BMW Group (Munich)” now want to make very clear: They have nothing to do with the aircraft, ship and submarine manufacturers Rolls-Royce PLC.

In a press release issued on Thursday, Andrew Ball for Goodwood, West Sussex based Rolls-Royce Motor Cars pointedly remarked:

“Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has issued a statement in response to continuing media confusion and misreporting concerning its assumed or implied connection to Rolls-Royce PLC.”

“Media are kindly asked to note that images of Rolls-Royce motor cars, the black and silver ‘Double R’ logo, the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ (‘Flying Lady’) mascot, the Rolls-Royce Pantheon Grille and other related content are all signifiers of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and its Brand.”

“The use of these images to illustrate stories relating to Rolls-Royce plc together with copy that unnecessarily confuses or conflates the two companies, is incorrect and leads to public confusion.”

Given “recent announcements” have led to the “media confusing and misreporting” the two, one thing’s for sure: A Rolls-Royce car is a Rolls-Royce car when it’s a Rolls-Royce Motor Car; when it’s not, it’s just not. “Now Jeeves, be a darling, go fetch the Toyota.”

Some quotes about Rolls-Royces

“Greatness takes time: It takes 13 hours to build a Toyota, but it takes 6 months to build a Rolls-Royce.”

Unknown.

“Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.”

‘Most successful investor in the world’ Warren Buffett.

“At 60 miles per hour, the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”

‘Father of Advertising’ David Ogilvy CBE.

“When you are a rich man, you are proud to own a Rolls-Royce and when you are a poor man, you are proud to own a Renault.”

Charismatic footballer Eric Cantona.

“If a working-class Englishman saw a bloke drive past in a Rolls-Royce, he’d say to himself: ‘Come the social revolution and we’ll take that away from you, mate.’ Whereas, if his American counterpart saw a bloke drive past in a Cadillac, he’d say: ‘One day, I’m going to own one of those.’ To my way of thinking, the first attitude is wrong. The latter is right.”

Media tycoon Kerry Packer.

Pictured top: A selection of models currently available in Rolls-Royce Motor Cars’ current line-up.

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Rolls-Royce Motor Cars want to remind the world that they produce motor cars. They most certainly don’t want people thinking they produce flying hairdryers.

In October 2016, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured this 1926 Rolls-Royce Phantom I by Brougham De Ville. It has an interior inspired by Versailles and the interior was described as “like stepping inside a very fine Georgian manor house.”

In March 2017, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured this 1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I drophead coupé. It was nicknamed ‘The Honeymoon Express’ given it seats just two and has an oversized boot capable of carrying a week’s luggage.

In August 2015, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured this 1973 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI by Pietro Frua. It was described as “the largest convertible ever built,” measured over 22-foot in length and took two years to build. The giant motor was originally owned by His Excellency Consul Simon van Kempen of Switzerland and Monaco sold for £442,546 including premium as part of The Frederiksen Auction in Denmark.

In February 2018, ‘The Steeple Times’ featured this special edition 1995 Rolls-Royce Flying Spur converted to an estate car from a Silver Spur III.

In September 2016, ‘The Steeple Times’ joined those describing the owner of this Rolls-Royce as having “the most vulgar numberplate in Britain.” The owner of ‘SH10W OF’ plainly is a person without an ounce of modesty in their entire being.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pndoAjymnMM

June 12, 2020
The Murky McCann Milieu

Former lead investigator in Madeleine McCann case predicted latest development involving German paedophile in April 2019; he suggested the man would be made a “scapegoat” by Scotland Yard

Amongst all the hubbub of the last 24 hours surrounding the “identification of a German sex offender as the key suspect” in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, it has been conveniently forgotten that the former lead detective in the case, Goncalo Amaral, predicted such a development back in April 2019.

With nearly £12 million of public money spent on this case thus far, an ending – happy or otherwise – would bring closure for all involved. Yet, with British cops again recently grubbing around for yet more funding, this actually not so new ‘development’ actually could instead be primarily about helping that endeavour.

In April last year, Amaral – who had focused his inquiries onto a German paedophile without success in 2008 – told Australia’s News 9 (through an interpreter):

“Scotland Yard are preparing the end of the case. They are going to a use a German paedophile who is in jail in Germany at this time. He is going to be the scapegoat for it. I don’t how they will start it, but that will be the big ending. This will be the conclusion of the case.”

Significantly, Scotland Yard and the mainstream media seem to have now forgotten all about this.

The police have yet to explain the actual significance of photographs of a 1980s Volkswagen T3 Westfalia campervan and a 1993 Jaguar XJR6.

The car hired by the McCanns also remains a bit of a mystery. In 2008, it was revealed that “one of them had later removed the carpet from the boot compartment in order to scrub it clean.” The boot had been “left open for several days” also.

More significantly, shared on ‘The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann’ Facebook page last month is this photograph illustrating the distribution of blood spots in the sitting room of the holiday apartment where the McCann family were staying in Praia da Luz, Portugal in May 2007. Elsewhere, analysis of the setting highlights that tiles in the room were later removed by persons unknown.

Missing Madeleine – Questions STILL without Answers

Many questions about what happened on the evening of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remain. Some that have been highlighted by the press and discussed online include:

Why did Kate McCann refuse to answer 48 questions put to her by the Portuguese police?

Why were certain records of phone calls on the evening of the disappearance “whoosh-clunked”from the memories of the phones of Mr and Mrs McCann and the ‘Tapas 9’?

Why did a British sniffer dog sense the smell of a corpse in a cupboard in the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappeared?

Why did a sniffer dog also supposedly sense the smell of a corpse in a vehicle hired by the couple a month after the disappearance of their daughter?

Why did Mr and Mrs McCann go jogging and play tennis in the days after their daughter’s disappearance?

Was it acceptable for Mr and Mrs McCann’s mortgage to be paid by the fund established to search for their missing daughter?

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June 4, 2020
Beauty’s in the Eye of the Bargain Basement Bugatti

Replica “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57SC Atlantic coupé” to be auctioned for a sum 99.9% lower than the most famous of the four originals is said to be worth

If ever rediscovered, a car termed “the most beautiful ever created” – the second of four Bugatti Type 57S Atlantic coupés – would supposedly be worth £93 million ($113 million, €104 million or درهم415 million).

Handcrafted as part of a limited production with sales only to the British banker Victor, 3^rd Baron Rothschild, an English tennis player named Richard B. Pope and a Frenchman named Jacques Holzschuh between 1936 and 1938, the second coupé made was used for promotion and then given to its creator, Gianoberto ‘Jean’ Bugatti (1909 – 1939). After he was killed whilst testing a Type 57 tank-bodied racer, his car passed into the hands of various racing drivers. It was then hidden away with the outset of the Second World War, but sadly never resurfaced.

Named in honour of Mr. Bugatti’s aviator friend Jean Mermoz (1901 – 1936), whom never returned from a journey across the South Atlantic in 1936 in a Latécoère 300 Croix-du-Sud plane, the 12-foot long 57SC is lauded as the ultimate automotive design icon. Bugatti themselves term the “world’s most valuable vehicle” to be “extraordinary” and reference the coupé “unique in its time and still unique today.”

As a result of their desirability, the car – which Motor Authority terms “delightfully swoopy… [the] crown jewels of Bugatti production cars” – has unsurprisingly inspired a number of automotive designers to create homages to it. One example, created by “hot rodder” Terry Cook, is being auctioned this month – but one thing’s for sure, whatever it sells for, its hammer price will nowhere near that of a ‘real’ example.

In March 2017, the “homage to Jean Bugatti’s Type 57SC Atlantic coupé,” the Delahaye USA Pacific was auctioned at the Mostalgia Amelia Island sale in Florida. It sold for £182,000 ($220,000, €204,000 or درهم808,000). The same car is headed to auction again this month.

Jean Bugatti pictured next to the ‘Royale Esders Roadster’ prototype he designed in 1932.

The four Bugatti 57SC Atlantic cars.

The “reimagined Atlantic” concerned was made by Cook’s firm, Delahaye USA, in 2016 and is described as “noticeably longer than the original, 10 inches to be exact.” It has a 127-inch wheelbase and features a BMW fuel-injected 12-cylinder engine and automatic transmission and unlike its forerunners comes equipped with air conditioning, heating and power windows. The stainless steel tubular seat frames are exact copies of those from the 57SC now owned by Ralph Lauren and the fabric is described as “richly decorative.”

RM Sotheby’s will sell the 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific – which actually is titled a 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ – as part of their ‘Drive Into Summer’ online sale from 21^st to 29^th May. They have set an estimate of £124,000 to £165,000 ($150,000 to $200,000, €139,000 to €185,000 or درهم551,000 to درهم735,000) for this “wonderful modern homage.” Of it, they add: “The Delahaye USA Pacific is sure to turn heads no matter where it may travel, be it on any side of either ocean.”

Those on an even more limited budget could still live the ‘Atlantic dream’ – Ralph Lauren is currently marketing a 1:18 scale, die-cast, hand-painted replica of Mr. Lauren’s 57SC for ‘just’ £1,595 ($1,930, €1,784 or درهم7,090).

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The metallic gray-blue 1936 Bugatti Type 57S – chassis number 57374 – was originally owned by Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild and thus known as the ‘Rothschild Atlantic.’ It was sold for in excess of £24.8 million ($30 million, €27.7 million or درهم110.2 million) in 2010 to the collector Peter Mullin. The car is now displayed at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California.

The missing 1936 57SC – chassis 57453 – was presented in black and known as ‘La Voiture Noire’ or ‘The Black Car.’ It was the second Atlantic manufactured, disappeared from France in February 1941 and has never been seen since. Jean Bugatti considered this particular example his “most innovative and most valuable creation.”

The 1936 Bugatti 57SC – chassis number 57473, ‘the Holzschuh Atlantic’ – was first owned by Jacques Holzschuch and his wife, Yvonne, and presented in black. After they were killed in the Second World War, the car’s subsequent owner, René Chatard, was hit by a train whilst in it 1955. He and his companion died and the remains of the vehicle were sold on. The restored car – considered a replica by experts – is displayed at the Torrota private collection in Spain.

Clothier Ralph Lauren with his 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC – chassis 57591, the ‘Pope Atlantic.’ It was originally owned by Richard B. Pope and presented in sapphire blue, but painted black after being sold to Ralph Lauren in 1988.

At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, commemorating the 110th anniversary of Jean Bugatti’s birth, Bugatti sold a one-off model named ‘La Voiture Noire’ in homage to the missing 57SC for circa £15.7 million ($19 million, €17.6 million or درهم70 million). They declared it: “The most expensive new car ever sold.”

The model available from Ralph Lauren.

The steering wheel of the 2016 ‘Assembled Vehicle’ 1939 Delahaye USA Pacific.

The seats are an artwork in themselves.

Another view of the interior.

With the doors open, from the front.

The spare wheel.

From the front.

From the rear (complete with twelve exhaust pipes).

The bonnet of the vehicle with a model of the car that inspired it on it.

May 17, 2020
A Grand Old Man’s Grand Old Merc

1967 Mercedes ‘Dictator Car’ limousine owned until 1993 by the first President of Ivory Coast to be auctioned after being restored at vast expense

Félix Houphouët-Boigny (whom claimed to be born in 1908, but was more likely born in 1905, and died in 1993) was known variously as ‘Papa Houphouët’ (‘The Old One’), the ‘Sage of Africa,’ the ‘Farmer President’ and the ‘Grand Old Man of Africa.’ Westerners, more simply called him: ‘HB.’

The first President of Ivory Coast and ruler from 1960 to 1963 was considered “politically moderate” and under him the country “prospered economically.” His tenure was referred to as the “Ivorian miracle” and with growth, this larger-than-life leader moved the capital from Abidjan to his hometown, Yamoussoukro, in 1983. There he built not only an international airport, but also, at an extraordinary cost of the equivalent of £629 million ($780 million, €713 million or درهم2.9 billion) today, the largest church in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro.

“Well-loved first President of Ivory Coast” Félix Houphouët-Boigny (1905 or 1908 – 1993).

Félix Houphouët-Boigny travelling in one of his Mercedes-Benz ‘Dictator Cars’.

Aside from the usual ‘perks’ purchased by leaders of his time – including homes in France, Italy and Switzerland – Houphouët-Boigny was known for his love of shiny metals. In 1983, he declared: “People are surprised that I like gold. It’s just that I was born in it.” With his ‘Françafrique-style’ of diplomacy, Houphouët-Boigny liked to travel in style also and now one of his fleet of cars is to be sold at auction in June.

The car to be offered by RM Sotheby’s is a 1967 Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman with six-doors. It is one of five delivered to Ivory Coast at that time, unusually has no door handles on its middle doors and is fitted with air conditioning and an intercom also. Presented in its original colour combination of black lacquer with a natural coloured leather interior and brown carpets, the car left Africa after the death of Houphouët-Boigny in 1993. It was then exported to Germany and in the time since has been subject to restorative work costing some £88,000 ($109,000, €100,000 or درهم401,000) in 1994 and between 2013 and 2014 also. The auctioneers note that “the car is equipped with a replacement engine of the right type and that a second engine of the right type comes with the purchase.”

Twice married Houphouët-Boigny was said to be worth somewhere between the staggering sums of £5.7 billion and £8.9 billion ($7 billion and $11 billion, €6.4 billion and €10 billion or درهم25.7 billion and درهم40.4 billion) on his death. His funeral was attended by 7,000 people and subsequently Ivory Coast’s economy declined rapidly. A religiously grounded civil war followed and still today, what was previously a prosperous land remains “severely damaged.”

RM Sotheby’s will sell the ex-Félix Houphouët-Boigny Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman at their Essen sale on behalf of its current owner, Dr Urich Speicher. The event runs from 24^th to 27^th June and an estimate of £220,000 to £247,000 ($273,000 to $306,000, €250,000 to €280,000 or درهم1 million to درهم1.1 million) has been set.

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April 1, 2020
Illuminating the Illuminati

As ‘The Guardian’ explores the power of the Illuminati, Matthew Steeples argues that the few claiming links to such are nothing but mad, old cranks

This morning, The Guardian’s Martha Gill asked: “What is the Illuminati?” in an article that jokingly suggested Googling such would put one at “great personal risk.”

Referencing the organisation’s “top bananas – such as for example the Queen – [as] ancient lizards dating from an era before man existed” without even bringing the crackpot David Icke into it, politics, culture and neuroscience expert Gill made connections instead to Beyoncé, Madonna and Katy Perry. She called the Illuminati a “very clever cover-up” and a “myth” and a group that formed because a German philosopher named Adam Weishaupt “couldn’t afford the Freemason admission fee.” Overall, she concluded: “It is a powerful and savagely guarded organisation that secretly controls the entire modern world, probably while wearing cloaks. It has done this mainly through infiltrating the media and brainwashing everybody. It could be doing it right now.”

Whilst such claims are both countered and at the same time mocked in such works as Roman Polanski’s 2010 film The Ghost Writer –where a fictional former British Prime Minister turns out to have been controlled by a very shady operation named the Hatherton Corporation – what Gill misses is that the groups that continue to claim links to the Illuminati – such as the Ordo Templi Orientis – are, in fact, actually nothing but a bunch of mad, old cranks.

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November 22, 2017
A Bargain Boat

Edward Kay reports on the sale of a truly striking 1-of-1 Aguti 20-metre wooden motor yacht that cost £6.4 million to build; it is offered for just £1.4 million

As most of Germany is relatively landlocked, with just the borders of the far northern cities meeting the Atlantic Ocean, it’s no surprise that some of the world’s best performance cars have come out of Deutschland. But, for a yacht building business, one generally might assume that the lack of water access would be quite a difficult hurdle to overcome. Luckily for a firm named Aguti, it set up shop on the coast of Lake Constance – one of the largest lakes in Germany – and here the company’s founder and designer Andreas Grieger has brought what truly must be considered nautical masterpieces to life.

Grieger had a desire to create a yacht with all the grand old opulence of time’s past, yet also with all the benefits of modern fittings and building technologies. He began designing such a vessel in 2003, and over the next 40 months, a fabulous wooden motor yacht slowly came to life at a build cost of some £6.4 million ($8.2 million, €7 million or درهم30.1 million). Where old and new design technologies came together most were in the hull. Here, the traditional yacht construction of utilising precious woods – in this case, mahogany – was upgraded with the integration of carbon fibre and epoxy resin. This process took 50,000 hours of craftsmanship, 40 cubic metres of mahogany, 50 cubic metres of cedar, 650 square metres of carbon fibre, and two tonnes of epoxy to complete, but the end result – a ship that had the visual appeal of a traditional wooden boat with the advantages of a modern composite yacht – was most definitely worth the effort.

This 20-metre, Riva-style owner’s driver yacht is, in my view, a design dream. Not only is it clean, crisp, and curvaceous, while also being angular, it cuts through the waves off the south of France like a hot knife through butter. It has twin 10-cylinder MAN engines – which each develop 1,100hp and together produce a maximum speed of 32 knots. All that power is hidden beneath a beautifully fitted heat-treated teak deck, spreading from bow to stern, including the extendable bathing platform. Elsewhere, the modern nautical technology of the cockpit is complemented by beautifully hand-stitched leather seats and a hydraulic ‘hard top’ roof, offering shade as well as airflow.

The openness of the cabin below allows direct passage from the cockpit and provides the captain with a view of the opulence underneath. The saloon and kitchen lead to three spacious bedrooms (larger in size than those of most London flats) which feature red mahogany furnishings, King-sized beds, and bathrooms finished in natural stone. For those looking for an escape this summer — a private oasis for you and your eleven closest friends — you’re sure to find it on this Aguti yacht.

£1.4 million ($1.8 million, €1.5 million or درهم6.5 million) is sought for the craft – a 78% discount on the cost when new.

Interested parties can contact yacht broker Edward Kay of Boatshed Riviera via email at [email protected] or +44 (0) 786 780 0908.

August 15, 2017
An Ugly Brake

Rare “ugly duckling” seven-seat 1967 Mercedes-Benz shooting brake to be offered at auction; it will generate the same reaction as Marmite

An extremely rare yet somewhat ugly 1967 Mercedes-Benz 230S ‘Universal’ is to be sold at auction this month with an estimate of £35,000 to £40,000 ($45,000 to $52,000, €39,000 to €45,000 or درهم167,000 to درهم191,000).

Just one of three examples ever produced for the UK market and converted to a shooting brake by IMA of Mechelen, Belgium, the special-order vehicle is said to have cost “three times the price of an equivalent estate from Ford of Vauxhall” when new. It features an original Ivory steering wheel, and seating for seven.

Finished in Dunkelblau dark blue with a Sky Blue leather interior, the uprated 2.8-litre car will be offered at The Silverstone Classic Sale 2017 by Silverstone Auctions on 29^th and 30^th July.

A representative of the firm comments: “This stylish estate is a true performer… It is a beautiful, timeless classic and has to be the ultimate seven-seater estate. Original and usable, get the picnic sets out let’s get off to Goodwood!”

July 23, 2017
Donald’s Duck

Weak and wobbly Theresa May becomes dastardly and dominant Donald Trump’s (dead) duck at the G20 in Germany

Up north people often say: “Ay up me duck” when they meet someone and yesterday Theresa May looked as if she wanted to come out with such when she encountered “pussy grabber” Donald Trump.

Pictured with her hand tightly clasped by Mr Trump at the G20 in Germany, the worst sartorially advised woman on the planet, smiled with smugness as the 45^th POTUS spoke of the “very special relationship” between her and his administrations.

In comments that prove Britain’s dead duck PM is nothing but a pillock and a poodle, ‘The Donald’ then added: “I will be going to London.”

God help Great Britain. What on earth have we become?

July 8, 2017
Disappointing Dent Coad

New Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad fails to join Labour heavyweights showing support for the single market

Prior to her victory, the now newly elected Member of Parliament for Kensington, Emma Dent Coad, clearly and repeatedly said she’d “fight to retain access to the single market”. Yesterday, however, she failed to join a whole array of fellow Labour politicians demanding exactly such and in doing so has left constituents questioning her true commitment to fighting ‘Hard Brexit’.

Aside from the fact that some of the party’s busiest and best known figures – including David Lammy MP, Stella Creasy MP and Chuka Umunna MP – bothered, unlike her, to sign a letter to The Guardian “supporting British membership of the single market after Brexit”, Dent Coad’s previous statement of: “Three in four people in Kensington voted to remain, and I will ensure their voices are heard” is beginning to appear rather hollow.

The electorate of Kensington are primarily ‘Remainers’ and given she also had the backing of Gina Miller’s Best for Britain on her path to power, Dent Coad must now speak up. We understand her priorities at this time must be with supporting the victims of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, but this believer that ‘Hard Brexit’ will lead to “the economy falling off a cliff” could have easily spared a moment to sign a letter that seeks to guide her party’s position on something that will ultimately affect all of her constituents. We join those expressing disappointment in Emma Dent Coad.

Emma Dent Coad’s supposed position on Brexit as set out during the 2017 General Election campaign

The letter sent by Labour heavyweights to The Guardian in full follows:

Jeremy Corbyn has rightly said that Labour’s position on Brexit is to focus on a deal that prioritises jobs first. We are all united behind that goal. For us that means membership of the single market. A country can be a member of the single market without being a member of the EU and we must be clear – “access” to the European single market is both different and inferior to “membership” of the single market. Why? Because if we leave the single market, whatever the level of access is negotiated, working people across Britain will be worse off and revenue to the exchequer will plummet – revenue the next Labour government will need to bring an end to years of damaging Tory austerity.

The single market is not a simple free trade zone. It is, uniquely, a framework of rules that protects people from the worst excesses of globalisation and unfettered capitalism, in addition to easing trade across the continent. If we have mere access to the single market, we are talking about leaving this framework of rules and achieving mere reductions in tariffs for trade with the European Union.

If Britain stays in the single market, we will continue to benefit from EU laws and court judgments that outlaw discrimination in the workplace; deliver vital rights to workers on holiday pay, maternity and paternity leave, the right to join a union, and much more; protect our natural environment from pollution; and keep workers safe through stringent health and safety requirements. Large multinational companies work across borders to maximise their profits to often reduce these protections; the next Labour government, as a member of the single market, can work with other European countries to resist this and advance social justice. If we leave the single market, and ask for mere “access”, we will be compromised in achieving these goals.

This is why so many people in the Labour movement are supporting British membership of the single market after Brexit. Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, has said that “if we leave the single market, working people will end up paying the price. It’d be bad for jobs, for work rights and for our living standards.” The USDAW trade union has warned that leaving the single market “will put at risk hundreds of thousands of jobs”.

And who is leading the charge to junk our membership of the single market? A motley crew of hard-right, pro-Brexit Tories. Michael Gove. Boris Johnson. John Redwood. Iain Duncan Smith. Priti Patel. Theresa May wants us out because her government is totally dominated by its obsession with leaving the single market. They want us to leave precisely because they want to roll back the social protections delivered by single market membership. Redwood authored a plan to cut regulation in Britain by 25%. Patel went one further, calling on the “burden” of EU regulations – those rules that protect working people – to be “halved”. We should not be providing political cover to hard-right Tories who stand diametrically opposed to Labour values.

The argument for leaving the single market is often focused around the need to end the free movement of people. However, we argue, and many experts agree, that changes to our immigration system can be made while keeping us inside it. Within the European treaties, free movement is not unconditional – at the moment we can require EU citizens to leave if they have no job or a prospect of a job three months after their arrival. Restrictions on free movement are explicitly allowed for reasons of “public policy, public security or public health”. Liechtenstein, which is outside the EU but in the single market, perfectly legally imposes quotas on EU migrants. French president Emmanuel Macron’s chief adviser has floated the idea of a “continental partnership” between Britain and the EU that would allow us to restrict free movement.

Another reason often cited for not remaining a member of the single market is that the state aid rules that apply in it stop governments from pursuing active industrial strategies to support their industries. But these have not stopped the likes of Germany having a national investment bank or France and the Netherlands supporting their industries through government procurement spend.

Ultimately, leaving the single market will make it much harder for a Labour government to end these years of Tory austerity. The economic damage it would cause would reduce the tax take, meaning less money could be spent on public services. The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies has forecast that leaving the single market for a free trade agreement could cause a £31bn hit to the public finances, extending austerity even further.

To win next time, Labour must provide a strong opposition to the Tories, stand up for the values of our voters, and continue to fight for the interests of all – not least young people who have the most to lose from an extreme Tory Brexit and who voted for the first time in 2017 for Labour, thinking we would stop the Tories in their tracks. This has to mean fighting unambiguously for membership of the single market. At the very least we should strongly oppose May’s decision to take membership off the table in these negotiations. An ambitious and confident alternative government – with Corbyn at the helm – should not throw in the towel as May has done, but could seek membership with reforms on immigration and the other matters we seek.

Chuka Umunna MP, Phil Wilson MP, Madeleine Moon MP, Maria Eagle MP, Liz Kendall MP, Stella Creasy MP, Wes Streeting MP, Mike Gapes MP, Kate Green MP, Lord Michael Cashman, Anne Coffey MP, Ian Murray MP, Rushanara Ali MP, Karen Buck MP, Stephen Doughty MP, Stephen Timms MP, Lord Spencer Livermore, Catherine McKinnell MP, Lord Peter Hain, Tulip Siddiq MP, Peter Kyle MP, Ruth Cadbury MP, Bridget Phillipson MP, Pat McFadden MP, Ann Clwyd MP, Thangam Debbonaire MP, Chris Bryant MP, Andy Slaughter MP, Daniel Zeichner MP, Alison McGovern MP, Darren Jones MP, Kerry McCarthy MP, Ben Bradshaw MP, Clare Moody MEP, Seb Dance MEP, Luciana Berger MP, Lord George Foulkes, Catherine Stihler MEP, David Martin MEP, Jude Kirton-Darling MEP, Mary Honeyball MEP, Paul Brannen MEP, Richard Corbett MEP, Julie Ward MEP, Derek Vaughan MEP, Lucy Anderson MEP, David Lammy MP, Lord John Monks, Meg Hillier MP, Adrian Bailey MP and Lady Meta Ramsay

June 21, 2017