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In The Name Of Mammon – Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind
Gilad Atzmon
In the last few weeks we have witnessed British Jewish leaders relentlessly complaining about ‘the rise of anti-Semitism.’ This morning we learned that two former foreign ministers are at the centre of a huge 'cash for access' scandal. I guess that Sir Malcom Rifkind is not going to help in the current struggle to defy anti-Semitism. Apparently the Jewish Chronicle is not convinced that Jack Straw passes the ‘Kosher’ test.
The Daily Mail reports today:
Former foreign secretaries Jack Straw and Sir Malcolm Rifkind today sought to defend themselves after becoming embroiled in a new 'cash for access' scandal where they both boasted about charging at least £5,000-a-day.
The pair were secretly filmed discussing how they could use their contacts to benefit a private company for large sums of money.
Sir Malcolm, who is chairman of the highly-influential Intelligence and Security Select Committee, said that he could see any foreign ambassador in London and has 'useful access' to every British ambassador in the world because of his profile.
This morning he claimed he acted 'entirely properly' and it was 'quite unrealistic' to expect backbench MPs with professional backgrounds to 'simply accept a salary of £60,000' without accepting second jobs, and would fight claims of wrongdoing 'with all my strength'.
Mr Straw, one of Labour's most senior figures, claimed he was 'mortified' after footage emerged of him inviting two undercover reporters to a meeting in his Parliamentary office where he claimed to work 'under the radar' for private companies.
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http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2015/2/23/in-the-name-of-mammon-jack-straw-and-sir-malcolm-rifkind
Gilad Atzmon is a British Jazz artist and author. Gilad was born in Israel in 1963 and trained at the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem (Composition and Jazz). A multi-instrumentalist he plays saxophones, clarinet and ethnic woodwind instruments. His album Exile
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