More information at Halloween Vigil outside Black Cap Pub THIS Saturday 1pm – 4pm PLEASE EMAIL AND TWEET WIDELY (A Very Long Read - Coffee or Wine Recommended.) Dear Campaigners, Before we start with this very, very long update, an action for you. Over the next few months as a result of identifying the offshore investors, we believe The Black Cap may be more at risk from damage or intervention by their UK representatives. Can we ask you to be our eyes and ears when you walk past the pub? In particular look out for: a) Damage, graffiti b) Official or pseudo-official notices attached to pub or adjacent lamppost or bus stop c) Rumours you may hear regarding the pub d) An increase in unknown visitors to the Pub (not the Guardians though!), equipment moving in or out If you see anything suspicious, flag it to all of us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/weareblackcap/ Halloween Vigil THIS Saturday 1pm – 4pm Come and visit us outside the pub – we’ve got Soho Ghost and other singers, poets Trudy Howson, and Roger Taber, as well as the #WeAreTheBlackCap dance troupe. We’ll be telling you more about the action we have taken regarding the foreign investors. And Now, To The Main Story As you know, we put our a request for assistance in identifying the ultimate beneficiaries of any attempt to close down, convert, and sell off our beloved Black Cap Pub for commercial gain. Well, not to mince words, this was completely successful. First, we wish to thank the US and Cyprus authorities for their assistance and diligent record-keeping, and the unexpected information received regarding the Jersey involvement. Second, we now have the names of the overseas investors, their network of UK representatives, their companies, their names, and their roles, and how they all interlinked and operated together to close Our Black Cap Pub. Third, we confirm the 2010 purchase of the Black Cap at an incredibly high price of £11.469m was driven by foreign investors desperately seeking to find safe harbour for their cash away from their Government. They were helped by a UK company founded by British based ex-Swiss bank staff, who knew about this, and set up specifically to help them do so. All evidence is date stamped and held at a secure location out of our reach. Fourth, we wish to highlight that presently it is not one pub, but at least six pubs, four of which have caused very strong community protests, which have been caught up in these particular foreign investors' pressing need to distance their substantial cash pile from their Government. At 06:00am this morning, the Black Cap Foundation sent a letter to the financiers and ultimate beneficiaries of the Black Cap debacle. This was communicated via their personable and deeply trusted compliance contact in Cyprus, who has worked with them since 2009. Our letter asked the ultimate beneficiaries to ‘demand your UK network to re-open the Black Cap Pub for the LGBT+ Community, or face exposure of your most senior people to London's press and politicians, and the press of your native country after this period’. We have requested a substantive response by 14th November 2016, 21 days from now. This letter was written in their own native language. The Pain for Campaigners continues On every single Saturday Vigil, without exception, we receive stories people who were regular Black Cap visitors, who experienced really fun-filled evenings, finding a home in the city, the friendly nature of all who came, and the truly great acts on display that reached international stardom. How can closing down a vital, and financially successful, gay pub for this community to replace it with three apartments and a faceless restaurant or worse ever be allowed to happen? As a reminder the investors and their UK representatives may wish to re-read our survey earlier this year describing the horrendous impact of this 'decision'. http://bit.ly/BlackCapSurvey2016 Well, we know desperate foreign investors avoiding their government, and their UK network, may not concern themselves much about London's LGBT+ people's feelings, but they do care about money. To these investors of the Black Cap, you are now finding out that money is a two way street. Only further heavier financial losses await for you if this pub is not re-opened to serve the community. BTW you should be asking someone to explain to you why they recommended you to provide loans to buy a pub for double what it was worth in 2010. You should also ask why they did not advise you about the red flag warnings known at the time, and delivered by the community every day since and culminating in today's long-running highly public protests. The Black Cap Foundation are guaranteeing the anonymity of the foreign investors, and the anonymity of their UK network if one of the following two ways forward are met within 21 days: i) To affirm they will order their UK network to re-open The Black Cap Pub for the LGBT+ Community - immediately ii) To exercise their right as bankers to the UK network to repossess the pub (we have a copy of the all-important signed charge document), and offer a lease to an operator who will re-open it for the very profitable LGBT+ Camden and London community. And also that the foreign investors and their UK network does not seek to silence The Black Cap Foundation, or its individual members with libel writs or other threats – see further down screen. In the case of both sides agreeing on way ii), the Black Cap Foundation, and our large membership have offered to provide our utmost help to ensure an operator is found, and we have had two quality enquiries, the second one in this morning. Our Unauthorised Sales Brochure can be found here: http://bit.ly/BLACKCAPPUBSALESBROCHURE and has triggered great interest with hundreds of downloads. The Black Cap Foundation will guarantee the foreign investors and their UK operatives their anonymity until 14th November 2016. In the meantime, we are not able to take questions from the media and other parties, except to say we are communicating only with the ultimate foreign beneficiaries. If their anonymity is revealed, it is not just from our Government that very unwanted interest will arise for them. To the UK representatives of the foreign investors: We feel it necessary to remind you of the following. We know who you are. Don't bother trying to wriggle out of it, we have your names on signed documents and official filings in our possession. You own the responsibility for paying utility bills, and insurances on The Black Cap Pub. You own managing The Guardians continuing presence at the pub for safe keeping during what may be a time of increased tension. Letters or writs for libel against the BCF or our individuals will immediately be published to the newspapers and amplified by social media, along with our entire research, ending your fund provider's anonymity. We shall loudly seek the alternative dispute resolution procedure to fight any libel attempt, and you can attend mediation and look at your own damning documents that we will supply. Regarding the pub, we recommend you do nothing rash that you may come to regret. We remind you we have proof of your liability to the foreign investors. Remember CLTX/Carlton Tavern? We will. Campaigners - thank you for your persistence with the campaign. (And reading this very long update!) We need to now ask you to be ready with some more focused support. If we do not hear from the ultimate beneficiaries by 14th November, that they have ordered their UK network to re-open the pub for our LGBT+ Community, or to repossess it and offer it to a leaseholder who will, then a very public and noisy escalation that you can hugely help with will follow. This will take place both in the ultimate beneficiary’s home country's press in their native language, and here in London. We'll tell campaigners at the time what we will need, how you can play a really big part, and will provide assistance and tools to help you get the word out. Press pickup in the foreign investors' native country does run the risk of stirring up extremist elements here who read it avidly in the UK. So we will need to ask you, our 8,600 Change.org members, and 2,500 Facebook members, to particularly look out for any suspicious gatherings outside The Black Cap, any rumours of possible vandalism, or trouble at a future vigil. With your huge support, campaigners continue firmly on the front foot, and we will win. It may be that the beneficiaries dive into the bunkers, an ill-advised course but possible. If this happens we will run the well thought-through escalation program we have planned in full, and we would ask your help with this. The Campaign to re-open the Black Cap continues. Our investigation into the foreign investors and UK representative network has been thorough and painstaking. Our analysis and evidence has already been forwarded to Camden Council, with whom we are meeting to discuss the exposed names this week. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced an investigation into the tens of thousands of unknown foreign investors forcing up house prices and the closing down of vital spaces, now threatening our ways of life and London’s night economy. We already know that the case of The Black Cap WILL feature heavily in the Mayor’s concerns, and that direct Government interest into the Black Cap’s foreign backers and UK representatives is now an unavoidable near-future fact of life for the investors and the UK network. To the ultimate beneficiaries we urge this. Please do the right thing. Order your UK representatives to re-open the pub for the LGBT+ Community immediately - you can do this. Or call your loans in and repossess the pub, and lease it to someone who will. We will help you. You really don't want the public exposure we will create in your native country. We don't want to do this either but we have run out of ways of telling your UK representatives how foolish and wrong-headed they are at dealing with yourselves, dealing with us, and misjudging the mood of London's Community, and political landscape towards anonymous foreign investors. And you and we both know our approach makes sense for you at this time. We campaign onwards and we expect success. Sincerely Black Cap Foundation.