The Intruders, the group of tax justice campaigners who gave an “award” to HMRC boss Dave Hartnett for “services to corporate tax avoidance”, have released a video of their latest stunt. Gatecrashing the Investment Banking Awards, members of the group handed Barclays a bottle of Bollinger champagne for “innovation in interest rate manipulation”.
The award, a reference to the promise from a Barclays trader of a bottle of Bollinger in exchange for LIBOR manipulation, went uncollected. The group got a better reception than they did first time round, when they were told “you will depart immediately before we set the dogs on you,” and called “Trespassing scum” by Robert Venables QC.
Watch a video of the whole event here:
The Intruders mission statement hints that they plan to be in it for the long haul:
Behind the closed doors of Mayfair hotels and Oxford colleges, the wealthy elite that caused the economic crisis celebrate their continued success over champagne and cosy dinner parties. Meanwhile, the rest of us face falling living standards, a bleak job market and decimating cuts to public services.
The wealthy elite believe they are unaccountable, that they are free from the consequences of the crisis they caused. They are wrong. The Intruders are here to crash the party and expose the excess and hubris of the people that got us into this mess.
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