The Corporation of the City of London

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 22:19
VIEWED: 2989
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SIGNYM

Friday, July 20, 2018 12:40 AM

Several people have mentioned this to me ... that the City of London, or at least a square mile or so... is much like The Vatican: A secretive cabal all on its own, with its own security and rules, unaccountable to Parliament or to anyone else in Britain. I thought this was just Dark Tales Told by the Campfire, but then I decided to look it up for myself, and found this ...

Quote:
The medieval, unaccountable Corporation of London is ripe for protest
George Monbiot
Mon 31 Oct 2011 17.00 EDT

It's the dark heart of Britain, the place where democracy goes to die, immensely powerful, equally unaccountable. But I doubt that one in 10 British people has any idea of what the Corporation of the City of London is and how it works. This could be about to change. Alongside the Church of England, the Corporation is seeking to evict the protesters camped outside St Paul's cathedral. The protesters, in turn, have demanded that it submit to national oversight and control.

What is this thing? Ostensibly it's the equivalent of a local council, responsible for a small area of London known as the Square Mile. But, as its website boasts, "among local authorities the City of London is unique". You bet it is. There are 25 electoral wards in the Square Mile. In four of them, the 9,000 people who live within its boundaries are permitted to vote. In the remaining 21, the votes are controlled by corporations, mostly banks and other financial companies. The bigger the business, the bigger the vote: a company with 10 workers gets two votes, the biggest employers, 79. It's not the workers who decide how the votes are cast, but the bosses, who "appoint" the voters. Plutocracy, pure and simple.

There are four layers of elected representatives in the Corporation: common councilmen, aldermen, sheriffs and the Lord Mayor. To qualify for any of these offices, you must be a freeman of the City of London. To become a freeman you must be approved by the aldermen. You're most likely to qualify if you belong to one of the City livery companies: medieval guilds such as the worshipful company of costermongers, cutpurses and safecrackers. To become a sheriff, you must be elected from among the aldermen by the Livery. How do you join a livery company? Don't even ask.

To become Lord Mayor you must first have served as an alderman and sheriff, and you "must command the support of, and have the endorsement of, the Court of Aldermen and the Livery". You should also be stinking rich, as the Lord Mayor is expected to make a "contribution from his/her private resources towards the costs of the mayoral year." This is, in other words, an official old boys' network. Think of all that Tory huffing and puffing about democratic failings within the trade unions. Then think of their resounding silence about democracy within the City of London.
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The current Lord Mayor, Michael Bear, came to prominence within the City as chief executive of the Spitalfields development group, which oversaw a controversial business venture in which the Corporation had a major stake, even though the project lies outside the boundaries of its authority. This illustrates another of the Corporation's unique features. It possesses a vast pool of cash, which it can spend as it wishes, without democratic oversight. As well as expanding its enormous property portfolio, it uses this money to lobby on behalf of the banks.

The Lord Mayor's role, the Corporation's website tells us, is to "open doors at the highest levels" for business, in the course of which he "expounds the values of liberalisation". Liberalisation is what bankers call deregulation: the process that caused the financial crash. The Corporation boasts that it "handle[s] issues in Parliament of specific interest to the City", such as banking reform and financial services regulation. It also conducts "extensive partnership work with think t

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THG

Friday, July 20, 2018 1:51 AM

How MI5 and the FBI foiled a plot to assassinate British Prime Minister Theresa May

https://edmontonsun.com/news/world/how-mi5-and-the-fbi-foiled-a-plot-t
o-assassinate-british-prime-minister-theresa-may/wcm/784f755f-c9ab-4e00-b14e-d95d1f24711b

THG

Friday, July 20, 2018 1:54 AM

Two more victims of Soviet-era nerve agent poisoned in British town where Russian ex-spy was attacked

July 19, 2018
The Washington Post

THG

Friday, July 20, 2018 1:58 AM

Police ID'd Russians for Skripal poisonings: British media

According to multiple media reports, officers have matched CCTV footage taken near Skripal's Salisbury home with video recorded of people entering and leaving the country around the March 4 attack, using facial recognition technology. The U.K.'s Press Association, citing a source close to the investigation, says that detectives are "sure" the suspects are Russian. CNN adds that the departure of the men from the UK on a commercial flight was confirmed by a coded message sent to Moscow shortly after the attack and intercepted by British spies.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/national-today-newsletter-uk-poison
ing-russia-novichock-1.4752296

THG

Friday, July 20, 2018 2:01 AM

Why is the UK economy doing so well given the current political instability?

Economists are not very good at predictions. All the stuff the profession has accumulated to try to forecast the economy depends on past performance. Trouble is, there was no last time for the Brexit vote

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/uk-economy-bank-of-england-imf-in
terest-rates-city-of-london-gdp-exports-imports-a8453381.html

T

JAYNEZTOWN

Monday, June 13, 2022 9:21 PM

The ancient corner of London that’s scandalously overlooked by tourists

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/
england/london/quiet-corner-london-wrongly-overlooked-tourists/

JAYNEZTOWN

Wednesday, July 6, 2022 7:56 PM

more Conspiracy?

District of Columbia was created in 1801 as the federal district of the United States, with territory previously held by the states of Maryland and Virginia ceded to the federal government of the United States for the purpose of creating its federal district, which would encompass the new national capital of the United States, the City of Washington. The district came into existence, with its own judges and marshals, through the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801; previously it was the Territory of Columbia. According to specific language in the U.S. Constitution, it was 100 square miles (259 km2).

https://rumble.com/v19edp3-the-united-states-of-the-british-crown-colo
ny-we-will-need-to-relearn-every.html

SIGNYM

Wednesday, July 6, 2022 8:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JAYNEZTOWN:
more Conspiracy?

District of Columbia was created in 1801 as the federal district of the United States, with territory previously held by the states of Maryland and Virginia ceded to the federal government of the United States for the purpose of creating its federal district, which would encompass the new national capital of the United States, the City of Washington. The district came into existence, with its own judges and marshals, through the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801; previously it was the Territory of Columbia. According to specific language in the U.S. Constitution, it was 100 square miles (259 km2).

https://rumble.com/v19edp3-the-united-states-of-the-british-crown-colo
ny-we-will-need-to-relearn-every.html

Sometimes the hardest thing to see is what's right in front of your eyes. I have occasionally wondered, tho, why DC needs its own independent spot. To prevent the state of its residence from undue influence on Federal matters? Then why not make DC it's own state? To keep the Federal government from YET ANOTHER avenue of affecting Federal matters? Is this a "separation of powers" thing?

Many working in DC (politicians, bureaucrats) reside elsewhere and are able to vote in their own state on Federal matters. But there are full-time residents of DC who don't have representation at the Federal level (altho they can vote on city matters, such as electing a mayor), which seems unfair. Maybe DC residents can be given nominal state residency in either Virginia or Maryland (decided by lottery?) so they can vote in Federal elections.

Also, does DC have a Constitution, like states have, that constitute and limit its authority?

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

JAYNEZTOWN

Tuesday, August 8, 2023 6:54 AM

Woke banks are 'a risk to national security' as they are not backing Britain's defence | Politics | News - Express

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1789006/banks-risk-national-se
curity

SIGNYM

Tuesday, August 8, 2023 7:48 AM

I noticed, in a thread about the City of London, THUGR posts about .... RUSSIA!!

I hadn't realized until JAYNZE started necroposting how totally obsessed THUGR is with Russia!

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"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

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