Michael Lord-Castle (born 5 September 1959 in Birmingham) is an English citizen, who has appeared in numerous news stories worldwide, courting controversy with his actions.
Professional History
editIn 1985 he founded the Insolvency Advisory Service.[1]
In 2001 Lord-Castle attempted to launch a business class only airline, Blue Fox Executive Airlines, with Rt Hon Lord Tebbit as Chairman.[2] The airline formally launched after the 11 September attacks in a period of uncertainty for airlines,[3] and failed to fly.[1]
In 2004 Michael Lord-Castle was labelled an 'Anglo-Saxon thug' by French President Jacques Chirac after upsetting the French trade unions engaged in action on behalf of a British business with a factory in Dourdan.[4][5]
In 2005, he was involved as an 'insolvency expert' with direct action taken by a haulage supplier to retailer Tesco, which involved blockading a number of Tesco sites with lorries in order to demand payment.[6]
In 2006, Lord-Castle was present in the Maldives as part of the "Global Protection Committee", which Lord-Castle claimed was a group working since 1943 on behalf of a number of governmental agencies, during the run up to rallies intended at bringing about democratic change. The group was accused of being mercenary, and of plotting a coup. Lord-Castle and four of his associates were deported from the Maldives and banned for life.[7][8]
Also in 2006, Lord-Castle appeared in court after he was stopped by police who found that he had fitted his car with blue lights and a siren. This case law precedent led to all vehicles not capable of fitting a stretcher (including response cars and motorbikes of NHS ambulance trusts) being unable to lawfully fit blue lights or sirens,[9] and was used in this way in subsequent cases.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b Euro Business August 2001 Vol 3 Issue 3 Oliver Edwards pp.49-50
- ^ Andy Hopper (16 May 2001). "All-business airline promises new era [via Internet Archive Wayback Machine]". Cambridge Network. Archived from the original on February 14, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "Is Blue Fox cunning or crazy?". The Economist. 18 October 2001. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ "Newsnight Wednesday". BBC News. 26 May 2004. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ "Nicolas Sarkozy". BBC News. 2004-05-26.
- ^ Poulter, Sean (22 April 2005). "Tesco blockaded over unpaid bills". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ "Michael Lord-Castle and the GPC". MiniVan News. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ "Global Protection Committee explains role in Maldives". BBC Monitoring International Reports via Access my Library. 15 November 2006. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
- ^ Rule, Philip (2009-02-06). "What it means to be an Ambulance". Criminal Law and Justice Weekly.
- ^ "Director of public prosecutions v Issler and Bamburger". BJ Insurance Law.