# Who is David James, Baron James of Blackheath
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [February 24, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813 "2012-02-24T06:03:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813/1 "2012-02-24T06:03:03Z")
My SO just sent me a video of a speech he made in the House of Lords alleging some 15 trillion dollar conspiracy. I couldn’t find anything about this on BBC or The Guardian’s websites. Who is Lord James and is he for real or just one of those minor elected officials who can be counted on to say nutty shit every so often?
Thanks,
Rob
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813/2 "2012-02-24T06:23:45Z")
Google not working for you today?
[David James, Baron James of Blackheath](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_James,_Baron_James_of_Blackheath).
Clarification: he’s a minor _unelected_ official who can be counted on to say nutty shit every so often. One conspiracy speech, maybe worth looking at. Two? He’s bonkers I suspect.
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### Author:  [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813/3 "2012-02-24T09:37:43Z")
The Financial Times have called for the Queen to step in and kick him out of the Lords (apparently it requires the Queen to do this, or an Act of Parliament, to remove a Lord). Certainly the gullibility of quite a few people is worrying here (not least Lord Blackheath)—I’ve seen his speech being taken seriously on a few sites, and not the ravings of somebody with mental problems, or a massive naif—as if people don’t quite understand how large an amount of money $15 trillion is (about five times the annual US Federal budget).
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2012, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813/4 "2012-02-24T09:53:25Z")
Actually, I’ve now read [the speech at Hansard](http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201212/ldhansrd/text/120216-0002.htm#column_1016) and he himself acknowledges the craziness of the sums involved.
> [@](#):
>
> It is a ridiculous sum of money.
> [@](#):
>
> …I have a letter from Mr Riyadi himself, who tells me that he was put up to do this, that none of it is true, and that he has been robbed of all his money. I am quite prepared to recognise that one of the possibilities is that Mr Riyadi is himself putting this together as a forgery in order to try to win some recovery.
> [@](#):
>
> “The gold backing it is ridiculous. Only 1,507 tonnes of gold has been mined in the history of the world, so you cannot have 750,000 tonnes”. That is true. The third thing he said was, “It is a scam”, and I agree with him.
> [@](#):
>
> I have a letter from the Bank of Indonesia which says that the whole thing was a pack of lies. He did not have the 750,000 tonnes of gold which was supposed to be backing it; he had only 700 tonnes. This is a piece of complete fabrication.
Some of the amounts sound realistic, others so large that it stretches credibility that anyone would take is seriously.
I can’t really make head nor tail of what he’s alleging, but I think someone’s pulling his chain, either as a con or a wind-up. The question is really, if he knows it’s a scam why is he bringing it up in the Lords?
I’m guessing the original document says:
BLESSED IN THE NAME OF GOD
My name is YOHANNES RIYADI of Indonesia. My aim of contacting you is to see your assistance in removing 15 trillion dolalrs ($15,000,000,000,000) from the Bank of Lagos. These funds were in the name of my late wife but she was killed in a car crash last year…
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### Author:  [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2012, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813/5 "2012-02-24T10:04:11Z")
Wow, gullible much?
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### Author:  [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813/6 "2012-02-24T14:45:37Z")
Are you referring to me or to his Lordship?
Rob
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### Author:  [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813/7 "2012-02-24T19:51:21Z")
> [@sweeteviljesus](#):
>
> Are you referring to me or to his Lordship?
>
> Rob
His Lordship, I beg your pardon 🙂
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-david-james-baron-james-of-blackheath/613813/8 "2012-02-25T00:31:17Z")
Britain has a long tradition and history of . . . eccentric lords. See [Lord George Gordon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_George_Gordon) (not a peer, BTW; duke’s third son) and the [Gordon Riots.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_riots)