Oliver Bullough with Ian Rankin: How Britain Got Addicted to Dirty Money

Captioned

A ‘ghost company’ based in Edinburgh was recently accused of supporting Russian military services, thus aiding the invasion of Ukraine – a stark example of how Britain pimps itself out to international dirty money. Butler to the World is Oliver Bullough’s analysis of how Britain turned a blind eye to sources of trillions of dollars poured into British markets, helping billionaires shelter from scrutiny. He’s interviewed by Ian Rankin, who wrote about similar skulduggery in his Rebus novel Rather Be The Devil.

Book Festival News

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Andrew O'Hagan: Heydays in the Haçienda Andrew O'Hagan: Heydays in the Haçienda ‘Life is just a party, and parties weren’t meant to last.’ The post-punk protagonists of Andrew O’Hagan’s Mayflies would probably describe the lyrics of Prince’s hit pop song 1999 as ‘Yankee pish,’ but O’Hagan’s novel catches exactly the mood of the song… Alicia Garza: Building Moments Into Movements Alicia Garza: Building Moments Into Movements If the past eighteen months have taught us anything, it is that activism is alive, kicking and more needed than ever. But how can we create protests that are meaningful and lasting, rather than hollow or performative acts? How can we go beyond hashtags… Nell Stevens & Sarah Winman: Hearing the Voices of Ghosts Nell Stevens & Sarah Winman: Hearing the Voices of Ghosts Two novelists lead us across history and into the European sunshine. Sarah Winman’s Still Life brings us to a crumbling Tuscan villa where two strangers’ lives are entwined. Nell Stevens’s Briefly, A Delicious Life is set in a Mallorcan monastery where… Roger Robinson: ‘Ordinary Poems Won’t Change the World’ Roger Robinson: ‘Ordinary Poems Won’t Change the World’ Earmarked as ‘the voice of our communal consciousness’ by Edinburgh International Book Festival’s 2018 Guest Selector Afua Hirsch, it’s hard to believe that Roger Robinson hasn’t been a staple of British public life since time immemorial. A fixture of the… Siri Hustvedt with Elif Shakaf (2017 event) Siri Hustvedt with Elif Shakaf (2017 event) From Dickens to Vermeer and psychoanalysis to neuroscience, Siri Hustvedt is a writer of remarkable range and insight. In this event recorded live at the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival she speaks to acclaimed Turkish novelist and writer Elif… Norman Scott: The Establishment (Almost) Always Wins Norman Scott: The Establishment (Almost) Always Wins This is the story of a man who took on the establishment – and it seemed he’d lost. But Norman Scott’s own perspective on his secret affair with politician Jeremy Thorpe in the 1970s has gained credence thanks to the TV drama, A Very English Scandal. Now… Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 Highlights 20–23 August Edinburgh International Book Festival 2019 Highlights 20–23 August The Book Festival in full swing for the second week, in which we hear from Sue Perkins, Arundhati Roy, James Acaster and more… Jura Unbound: Illicit Ink & Graphic Scotland (2013 event) Jura Unbound: Illicit Ink & Graphic Scotland (2013 event) Graphic Scotland and Illicit Ink joined forces to combine stories from the page with illustrators on the stage in this lively, late night Jura Unbound event…… Michael Frayn (2015 Event) Michael Frayn (2015 Event) With Matchbox Theatre, Michael Frayn has produced perhaps his most daringly unusual book to date. Blurring the boundary between the page and stage, the brilliant author and playwright has produced a book of thirty short entertainments that function both… James Acaster at the Edinburgh International Book Festival James Acaster at the Edinburgh International Book Festival He’s been described as ‘a beige corduroy patchwork of eccentric inflections and odd obsessions that manages to be both supremely anorakish and strangely swaggering.’ Thanks to this singular style, James Acaster has become one of Britain’s funniest and…