Canada

[ray-c]

A bit of a shock, To find that that Canada, owns a big chunk of GB, Acorn special needs schools, Stoke, B'Ham, & Bristol Airports, HS1 railway, Bank of England, Royal Mail, and the big one the LOTTO, no wonder we don't have big prizes any more. so now we know. why the Government gave the Lotto back to Camelot, and not Virgin, so not only are we giving away, our Power companies, ship building, etc, but a lot more than we thought, we also give very large amounts of overseas aid, no wonder, we give all this money away, that the rest of the world think, we are loaded. if only they knew, we are drowning, and only us common brits know it.

[happy daze john in oz]

Nothing new there Ray, most countries have part owned by some other country. Here in Oz is no differentmany of our big companies have been taken over by of other countries. Chinese have a large number of housing estates that they half own, one of our large cheese companies looks to be taken over by a Canadian company and the US grain companies are attempting to take over much of our grain companies.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

HI Ray.
As John said it's the same all over, what I would like to know is who is at the back of it. Years ago they said that the Euro was all Russian money, the Yanks are broke, we in Aus are selling everything to anybody, even some water companies are controlled overseas, hope this Gov't doesn't give our pension rights to Afghanistan, or Indonisia.
Cheers Desredc.gif

[ray-c]

Thanks for all your comment, Virgin made a good bid, for lotto, but lost to Camelot, then it seems Canada took over. was this already in the wind, and waiting to take over, we will never know, and the profits will grow wings and fly off, Regards all Ray-c

[John Arton]

recently there was a clip on the BEEB showing an altercation between two councillors in a Canadian provincial government meeting. Perhaps they were fighting over expected backsheesh from Camelot?
rgds
JA

[alf corbyn]

perhaps the government was making sure that virgin didn't get a foothold into anything else other than the media, air transport, communications, etc. remember the way they screwed up Laker airways, which was getting better business than BA at one time

[leratty]

Ray-C, Bank of England? Yes they have a Canadian as MD but do not own it.
Alf what ever happened to Freddy after that?

[robpage]

.Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was a British airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982.Laker, originally from Canterbury, Kent and an old boy of the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (albeit an expelled one), started working in aviation with Short Brothers in Rochester. He was a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary during and immediately after World War II (1941–46).After World War II, he worked for a brief period for British European Airways (BEA) and London Aero Motor Services (LASM).[1] Having borrowed £38,000 from a wealthy friend to top up his own savings of £4,500, he subsequently went into business as a war-surplus aircraft dealer. The Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948-49, during which all available aircraft were needed to fly essential supplies into West Berlin, allowed his business to flourish as this provided more than a year's work for his planes and employees almost immediately. This period often saw Laker flying the aircraft himself.[2]
By 1954, Channel Air Bridge, his second airline venture, was flying cars and their owners in Bristol Freighters from Southend Airport (Rochford) to Calais.In 1958, he sold Air Charter, Aviation Traders and Channel Air Bridge to Airwork. All three companies joined the Airwork group in 1959. Following the Airwork – Hunting-Clan merger in 1960, he became managing director of British United Airways.[3][4]
He departed British United in 1965 and formed his own airline — Laker Airways — in 1966, initially operating charter flights with a pair of turboprop planes acquired second-hand from British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The livery was a mixture of black and red with a bold LAKER logo on the tailplane. He offered a brand-new, revolutionary concept of economic air travel requiring passengers to purchase their tickets on the day of travel as well as to buy their own food. These flights were operated by Laker Airways and marketed under the Skytrain trademark.Following the successful launch of Skytrain in 1977 he was knighted the following year in recognition of his services to the airline industry.[5][6]
He received an honorary degree from the University of Strathclyde in 1981.Sir Freddie Laker divided his final years between his waterfront home in Princess Isle, Grand Bahama Island, where he kept his yacht, The Lady Jacqueline, and Florida. Sir Freddie died at the age of 83 in a suburban Miami hospital in Hollywood, Florida, following complications from cardiac surgery to implant a pacemaker. He was survived by his fourth wife, Jacqueline Harvey, a former airline hostess he married in 1985, and also by his two children. His daughter, Elaine, was by his first wife Joan with whom he also had a son, Kevin, who died in 1965 at age 17 after crashing a sports car Freddie had given him for his birthday. His son Freddie Allen Laker — also a successful entrepreneur — was born to his third wife, Patricia Gates, with whom he also had another son who died in infancy.

[happy daze john in oz]

Flew with Laker airways a number of times, they were Ok and did a lot of holiday flights if I recall. Still have in the original wrapper a bottle of Freddie after shave.
I keep it with a tube of Gin falvoured toothpaste someone gave me years ago.