By Prof. Rodney Shakespeare:
"It’s bad enough when a member of the UK Royal family accepts gifts worth millions of pounds from a corrupt ruler. Thus the Countess of Wessex accepted two sets of jewels from Bahrain.
"Taking a charitable view, however, such gifts can result from a moment’s lack of thought about the implications of receiving something from a particular regime. We all make mistakes. Besides, it can be awkward to refuse.
"But it is an entirely different matter when receipt of the gift is a deliberate act of the UK government which shows that it has been bribed by bullies, corrupted by cowards, and debased by debauchees. "
