Revelations anger Omani pro-democracy activists who say it is ‘proof that British colonialism never ended’.
The repressive ruler of a close UK ally in the Gulf secretly received decades of advice on security, foreign and economic policy from a group of privy councillors who were drawn almost exclusively from the British establishment, it has emerged.
Oman’s dictator, Sultan Qaboos, who ruled the country for 50 years from 1970 to 2020, was advised by a secret privy council right up until his death last year.
The scheme appears to have been inspired by Britain’s privy council, the oldest functioning legislative assembly in the UK, whose members advise the Queen and have access to classified intelligence material.
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Peter Ainsworth, Tory whip who served in the Shadow Cabinet and was passionate about the environment – obituary
Described as ‘a Technicolor human being’, he was Campaigning Politician of the Year in 1993 and championed English classical music
Peter Ainsworth at the 2000 Conservative Party conference in Bournemouth
Credit: Nils Jorgensen/Shutterstock
Peter Ainsworth, who has died suddenly aged 64, was Conservative MP for East Surrey from 1992 to 2010, a government whip under John Major, and shadow secretary for culture and later the environment under William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and David Cameron.
Yet he made as great a contribution to public life after leaving the Commons, as chairman of the Big Lottery Fund, the Churches Conservation Trust, the Elgar Foundation and the Heritage Alliance.