Our Northern Rock - Zimbabwe business shame.

Greg Hands over on Conservativehome's CentreRight section points out some disturbing news for us regarding business with Zimbabwe.

My take: The Independent on Sunday is reporting that six Conservatives own shares in companies that are doing business in Zimbabwe. But did you know that we the British public are doing business with Zimbabwe? Do your hands feel dirty? Well don't feel too dirty because you probably knew nothing about your involvement in supporting a brutal regime.

The Times reported on this statement from David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary this week: “I condemn anything that gives succour, either financial or moral, to the Zanu (PF) leaders.”

Well maybe David Miliband would like to explain why this statement appears on the Northern Rock Guernsey Limited website (A subsidiary of Northern Rock):

Northern Rock (Guernsey) Limited does not accept new account applications from residents of the African continent, with the exception of applications from residents of Egypt, South Africa and Zimbabwe. New account applications are accepted for existing Northern Rock (Guernsey) Limited customers and additional deposits are accepted into existing accounts already held.

So a bank owned by the British public is doing business with Zimbabwe. I think we can assume that the people likely to be taking advantage of Guernsey's tax-free status will not be those being beaten, raped or murdered for having the nerve to vote against Mugabe. This needs stopping now and any money held should be frozen.

UPDATE: Guido has some bad news for the Independent.