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Meeting between Dmitrij Medvedev and Pope Benedikt Ratzinger 

[18.02.11]

Russia`s President Dmitry Medvedev met with Pope Benedict XVI and the VaticanSecretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, in the Vatican.

This was the first official visit of a Russian leader to the Vatican since establishment of full-formatdiplomatic relations. Following his brief working visit to the Vatican on December 3, 2009, DmitryMedvedev signed an executive order on establishing diplomatic relations at the level of a RussianFederation Embassy in the Vatican.

The discussion focused on prospects for humanitarian, social, scientific, educational andcultural cooperation. Besides, the parties reviewed opportunities for promoting

dialogue among confessions. (Source: Press Release on the official website of the President;Photo: the Presidential Press and Information Office)

Tory peer claims mysterious Foundation

X wants to give UK £5billion

•

•

By Tom Mctague 5/11/2010 

Peer says mystery group wants to give Britain £5bn

A mysterious group calling itself Foundation X is offering to give the British government billions of pounds for nothing - according to a 72-year-old Tory peer.

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In an extraordinary speech to the House of Lords on Monday, Lord James of Blackheath

said he had been in talks with the shadowy organisation and has been lobbying ministers

to contact them and claim the money.

The City veteran claims he was contacted out of the blue by Foundation X - which wants

to hand over £5billion immediately and £17billion by Christmas.

Lord James told baffled peers the organisation was "completely genuine and sincere" and

that for Britain to get the money they "expect to be contacted by someone equal to headof state status or someone with an international security rating equal to the top six people

in the world."

He said: "There will be no interest charged and, if the

Government would like it as well, it will put up money for 

funding hospitals, schools and the building of Cross-rail.

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/11/05/tory-peer-claims-

mysterious-foundation-x-wants-to-give-uk-5billion-115875-22693414/#ixzz1F6pMYZLi

Go Camping for 95p! Vouchers collectable in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th

August . Click here for more information

"These things can be done, but a senior member of the Government has to accept the

invitation to a phone call to the chairman of Foundation X."

Lord James went on: "Foundation X is completely genuine and sincere."

Made a peer by former Tory leader Michael Howard after the 2005 general election, the

Lord insisted yesterday that he stood by his speech.

This body, which he calls “Foundation X”, apparently has huge reserves of gold bullion

 backed funds. On some estimates, these funds amount to more than the entire gold

 bullion mined from the earth.

With such great wealth, “Foundation X” is understandably secretive, and only wishes todiscuss the disbursement of it’s funds with a Head of State or one of the “top six people

in the world”.

So for 20 weeks, Lord James investigated the foundation. He came to the conclusion that

“Foundation X is completely genuine and sincere and that it directly wishes to make the

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United Kingdom one of the principal points that it will use to disseminate its

extraordinarily great wealth into the world”

Having come to this conclusion, Lord James wished to expedite this investment. After all,

“Foundation X” were talking about £5 billion immediately, with a further £17 billion to

follow by Christmas to support Schools, Hospitals and Crossrail.

So Lord James secured a meeting for representatives of Foundation X with the Leader of 

the House of Lords, Lord Strathclyde. This was held some weeks ago and was, at best,inconclusive.

Since then, Lord James has discussed ”Foundation X” in detail with Treasury ministers

and now believes the government is dragging its heels and missing a major opportunity todrive forward the UK economy.

 Now, you might think this is all barmy.

After all, mystery foundations with vast quantities of gold bullion backed securities to

invest in the British economy don’t come along every day. It’s tempting to think thatLord James has been the victim of a particularly convincing Nigerian E-mail scam.

But if it is madness, it is madness that has reached the highest levels of government.

After all, not only have members of “Foundation X” met with the Leader of the House of 

Lords, the Treasury minister, Lord Sassoon, confirmed that he has been in “detailed

discussions” on this subject with Lord James, adding that the Government “take seriouslyanyone who wants to invest in our economy.”

So what on earth is going on?

One thing is for sure.

The truth is out there.

"Foundation X" speech

James attracted some press and blog attention after a speech in the House of Lords on

 November 1, 2010, in which he claimed to have been approached by an unnamed

organization wishing to fund massive public works projects in the UK with vast currencyreserves backed by gold bullion.[7][8] A Labour Party staff member and political blogger 

who wrote about the story[9] speculated that the organization in question is the Office of 

International Treasury Control.[10] However, James has stated that he had not beenapproached by the Office of International Treasury Control, that there were no links

 between Foundation X and the Office of International Treasury Control,[11] that the

Foundation X was a viable organization, and that the offer was in good faith. Further, in

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the course of the recorded speech James explicitly, albeit apparently unconsciously,

conflates Foundation X with the Vatican Bank .[12]

On Saturday November 6, 2010; the UK Treasury issued a statement which contradictedJames' earlier claims; denying that any meeting took place between Lords James &

Sassoon and a representative of the group which had being referred to as 'Foundation-X'.[13]

By Mike Cantelon, November 5, 2010

If a recent speech in the House of Lords is accurate, a secretive international organization has offered to financially bailout the UK.

During a  November 1 parliamentary session discussing economic difficulties, Conservative life peer  Lord James of Blackheath shared his concerns, outlining an urgent need for investment in industry. He then announced, "I am about to

raise a subject that I should not raise" and began an unusual pitch for a massive stimulus offer proposed by a non-government organization that he referred to as "Foundation X" (witholding the organization's real name due to securityconcerns).

Introducing the situation, Lord James claimed he'd been asked by a London financial institution to look into anorganization that had approached it with the idea of loaning the UK government £5 billion, interest-free, to help it fundeconomic stimulus and £17 billion, also interest -ree, to fund government services.

The institution was predictably cautious about moving forward, concerned that "Foundation X" could be linked toorganized crime or terrorism. James claimed to have spent 20 weeks investigating the "strange" organization,concluding it to be legitimate and wishing to "disseminate its extraordinarily great wealth into the world ... as part of anattempt to seek the recovery of the global economy".

Asked by another peer what his credentials were for dismissing the possibility of the organization's criminality, LordJames outlined his past involvement with "funny" money, saying, "I have handled billions of pounds of terrorist money.

My biggest terrorist client was the IRA and I am pleased to say that I managed to write off more than £1 billion of itsmoney. I have also had extensive connections with north African terrorists, but that was of a far nastier nature, and I do

not want to talk about that because it is still a security issue."

Lord James stated that his client in these past dealings was the Bank of England and hinted that he has access to UK 

intelligence resources that enabled him to vet the organization proposing the loan.

Lord James continued his pitch by discussing the requirements needed to secure the proposed aid. The organization, he

claimed, is very security conscious and would only deal with heads of state or "someone with an international securityrating equal to the top six people in the world". He claimed that to move forward, "a senior member of the governmenthas to accept the invitation to a phone call to the chairman" of the organization proposing the loan.

After Lord James finished outlining the plan, the next speaker took his place at the podium and the parliamentary

session continued as if nothing unusual had just happened.

During a television interview today with Sky News, Lord James shed more light on the nature of the organization. Hereferred to their resources as as a "massive supernational accumulation of funds which are ... the proceeds of ...commercial activity ... over ... a hundred years".

When asked about their possible motivation, Lord James claimed "they will protect the world ... so they will continueto survive with their wealth in it". He claimed the organization is concerned about energy and the environment and

interested in funding technologies such as "underground gasification of coal".

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Asked whether he is concerned the organization is a hoax, he claimed, "I am progressively comfortable with the

genineness of their approach" and that the organization has provided a list of high profile global individuals that willvalidate their existence if contacted by representatives of the British government.

Lord James also elaborated on the loan conditions, claiming the loan would require no repayment schedule. Leaders inthe UK government had not yet agreed to take the steps necessary to pursue the loans.

Lord James also spoke with ZDNet UK , who asked him about his claimed involvement in money laundering. Heelaborated on his covert work for the Bank of England, claiming that he'd been brought into five companies that had

 been originally built up using IRA pension funds and through which money was being laundered. His instructions wereto "run the companies down and liquidise the assets".

Did somebody just try to buy the British government? 

By Charlie Stross 

(Hat tip to [REDACTED] over on LJ for spotting this one ...)

Hansard is the official printed transcript of the proceedings of thehouses of parliament — in other words, the working log of the Britishgovernment.

It is an authoritative primary source, and records every speech made inthe House of Commons and the House of Lords. Interestingly, it also

records words spoken under parliamentary privilege.

So when an eminent member of the House of Lords stands up six hoursinto a debate and blows the gaff on a shadowy foreign Foundationmaking a bid to buy the British state, and this is recorded in Hansard ,one tends to sit up and take notice. And one takes even more noticewhen His Lordship tip-toes around actually naming the Foundation inquestion, especially after the throw-away about money-laundering for the IRA on behalf of the Bank of England. Parliamentary privilege onlystretches so far, it seems, and Foundation X is beyond its reach. I'm

going to quote at length below the cut — if you want to read the original,search for "1 Nov 2010 : Column 1538" which is where things begin totip-toe into Robert Ludlum territory.

(NB: The venue is the House of Lords, at 10:42pm on November 1st,2010.)

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Lord James of Blackheath: At this point, I am going to have to make avery big apology to my noble friend Lord Sassoon [Treasury Minister ],because I am about to raise a subject that I should not raise andwhich is going to be one which I think is now time to put on a higher awareness, and to explain to the House as a whole, as I do not thinkyour Lordships have any knowledge of it. I am sorry that my noble friendLord Strathclyde [Leader of the House] is not with us at the moment,because this deeply concerns him also.For the past 20 weeks I have been engaged in a very strange dialoguewith the two noble Lords, in the course of which I have been trying tobring to their attention the willing availability of a strange organisationwhich wishes to make a great deal of money available to assist therecovery of the economy in this country. For want of a better name, Ishall call it foundation X. That is not its real name, but it will do for themoment. Foundation X was introduced to me 20 weeks ago last weekby an eminent City firm, which is FSA controlled. Its chairman came tome and said, "We have this extraordinary request to assist in a major financial reconstruction. It is megabucks, but we need your help toassist us in understanding whether this business is legitimate". I had thebiggest put-down of my life from my noble friend Lord Strathclyde whenI told him this story. He said, "Why you? You're not important enough tohave the answer to a question like that". He is quite right, I am notimportant enough, but the answer to the next question was, "Youhaven't got the experience for it". Yes I do. I have had one of the biggest

experiences in the laundering of terrorist money and funny money thatanyone has had in the City. I have handled billions of pounds of terroristmoney.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham [Labour ]: Where did it go to?

Lord James of Blackheath: Not into my pocket. My biggest terroristclient was the IRA and I am pleased to say that I managed to write off more than £1 billion of its money. I have also had extensive connectionswith north African terrorists, but that was of a far nastier nature, and I do

not want to talk about that because it is still a security issue. I hastento add that it is no good getting the police in, because I shallimmediately call the Bank of England as my defence witness, given thatit put me in to deal with these problems.

The point is that when I was in the course of doing this strange activity, Ihad an interesting set of phone numbers and references that I could go

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to for help when I needed it. So people in the City have known that if they want to check out anything that looks at all odd, they can come tome and I can press a few phone numbers to obtain a reference. TheCity firm came to me and asked whether I could get a reference and aclearance on foundation X. For 20 weeks, I have been endeavouring todo that. I have come to the absolute conclusion that foundation X iscompletely genuine and sincere and that it directly wishes to make theUnited Kingdom one of the principal points that it will use to disseminateits extraordinarily great wealth into the world at this present moment, aspart of an attempt to seek the recovery of the global economy.

I made the phone call to my noble friend Lord Strathclyde on a Sundayafternoon—I think he was sitting on his lawn, poor man—and he did thequickest ball pass that I have ever witnessed. If England can doanything like it at Twickenham on Saturday, we will have a chanceagainst the All Blacks. The next think I knew, I had my noble friend LordSassoon on the phone. From the outset, he took the proper defensiveattitude of total scepticism, and said, "This cannot possibly be right".During the following weeks, my noble friend said, "Go and talk to theBank of England". So I phoned the governor and asked whether hecould check this out for me. After about three days, he came back andsaid, "You can get lost. I'm not touching this with a bargepole; it is far too difficult. Take it back to the Treasury". So I did. Within another day,my noble friend Lord Sassoon had come back and said, "This is

rubbish. It can't possibly be right". I said, "I am going to work more on it".Then I brought one of the senior executives from foundation X to meetmy noble friend Lord Strathclyde. I have to say that, as first dates go, itwas not a great success. Neither of them ended up by inviting the other out for a coffee or drink at the end of the evening, and they did notexchange telephone numbers in order to follow up the meeting.

I found myself between a rock and a hard place that were totallyparanoid about each other, because the foundation X people have anamazing obsession with their own security. They expect to be contacted

only by someone equal to head of state status or someone with aninternational security rating equal to the top six people in the world. Thisis a strange situation. My noble friends Lord Sassoon and LordStrathclyde both came up with what should have been an absolute killer argument as to why this could not be true and that we should forget it.My noble friend Lord Sassoon's argument was that these peopleclaimed to have evidence that last year they had lodged £5 billion with

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British banks. They gave transfer dates and the details of thesetransfers. As my noble friend Lord Sassoon, said, if that were true itwould stick out like a sore thumb. You could not have £5 billion poppingout of a bank account without it disrupting the balance sheet completely.But I remember that at about the same time as those transfers werebeing made the noble Lord, Lord Myners [former Labour TreasuryMinister], was indulging in his game of rearranging the deckchairs onthe Titanic of the British banking community. If he had three banks atthat time, which had had, say, a deficiency of £1.5 million each, thenyou would pretty well have absorbed the entire £5 billion, and you wouldnot have had the sore thumb stick out at that time; you would havetaken £1.5 billion into each of three banks and you would haveabsorbed the lot. That would be a logical explanation—I do not know.

My noble friend Lord Strathclyde came up with a very differentargument. He said that this cannot be right because these people saidat the meeting with him that they were still effectively on the goldstandard from back in the 1920s and that their entire currency holdingsthroughout the world, which were very large, were backed by bullion. Mynoble friend Lord Strathclyde came back and said to me that he had ananalyst working on it and that this had to be stuff and nonsense. He saidthat they had come up with a figure for the amount of bullion that wouldbe needed to cover their currency reserves, as claimed, which would bemore than the entire value of bullion that had ever been mined in the

history of the world. I am sorry but my noble friend Lord Strathclyde iswrong; his analysts are wrong. He had tapped into the sources that areavailable and there is only one definitive source for the amount of bullion that has ever been taken from the earth's crust. That was aNational Geographic magazine article 12 years ago. Whatever figure itwas that was quoted was then quoted again on six other sites on theinternet—on Google. Everyone is quoting one original source; there isno other confirming authority. But if you tap into the Vatican accounts—of the Vatican bank--— come up with a claim of total bullion—

Lord De Mauley [Government Whip]: The noble Lord is into his fifteenthminute. I wonder whether he can draw his remarks to a conclusion.

Lord James of Blackheath: The total value of the Vatican bankreserves would claim to be more than the entire value of gold ever mined in the history of the world. My point on all of this is that we havenot proven any of this. Foundation X is saying at this moment that it is

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prepared to put up the entire £5 billion for the funding of the three Isrecreation; the British Government can have the entire independentmanagement and control of it—foundation X does not want anything todo with it; there will be no interest charged; and, by the way, if theBritish Government would like it as well, if it will help, the foundation willbe prepared to put up money for funding hospitals, schools, the buildingof Crossrail immediately with £17 billion transfer by Christmas, if requested, and all these other things. These things can be done, if wished, but a senior member of the Government has to accept theinvitation to a phone call to the chairman of foundation X—and then wecan get into business. This is too big an issue. I am just an ageing,obsessive old Peer and I am easily dispensable, but getting to the truthis not. We need to know what really is happening here. We must findout the truth of this situation.

I am left rubbing my eyes.

Did a not-obviously-insane member of the government — a corporatetroubleshooter and Conservative life peer — really just stand up in theHouse of Lords and announce that a shadowy Foundation (that might or might not represent the Vatican) was offering the British government aninvestment of umpty-billion pounds in order to reboot the economy —free, gratis, with no strings attached?

Or am I just imagining the "no strings attached" clause?

 Lord James of Blackheath: The total value of the Vatican bank reserves

would claim to be more than the entire value of gold ever mined in the history of 

the world.