A screenshot from a UK government website listing a defunct private company called “Government UK Limited” sparked false claims online that the UK government itself is a private company which has been dissolved.
One user on Facebook said, “The government of UK, which has always been a private limited company has now been dissolved on 12 Sept 2023!”
Other users shared the same image and linked Government UK Limited’s dissolution to evidence of a world financial system collapsing. Various Facebook accounts said, “does that mean the Crown corporation that owns City of London which is a separate country to the United Kingdom has now dissolved and the financial arm of the 3 pillars of the world has completely collapsed?”
However, Government UK Limited is not owned by or associated with the UK government, a spokesperson for the UK Cabinet Office told Reuters.
According to the Companies House website, Government UK Limited was a private limited company incorporated on 29 July 2005 and dissolved on 12 September 2023, having made an application to strike the company off the register on 7 October 2020.
A private limited company is a business structure as defined by the Companies Act 2006 and operates entirely for profit.
The Companies House record lists one person as having significant control, named Laird James Coutts, and a correspondence address that belongs to a private house in Welling, Kent.
The Cabinet Office spokesperson said: “As we have previously made clear through Freedom of Information request responses, Government UK Limited is in absolutely no way affiliated with the UK government.”
In February 2021 and April 2021 , the Cabinet Office replied to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests that asked about the company, Coutts and why Government UK Limited was dissolved, saying that the office did not hold the information requested.
Source : Reuters
