Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #KeepingTheReceipts

Most recents (19)

#KeepingTheReceipts week 72.

Still reeling from the "fiscal event" announcement, Team Truss hasn't had the best start in the conferences either, with prominent Tory MPs expressing displeasure with the govt, while multiple cronyism scandals swirl around the new administration...
1. Following the last couple of weeks' scandals involving chief of staff Mark Fullbrook, the week began with the announcement that he would no longer be paid a wage via his own lobbying firm...
However, this was short-lived, as it was announced four days later that two further Truss aides were also paid via the same entity:
Read 18 tweets
#KeepingTheReceipts Week 57.

This week has marked important victories and losses for Journalism, Victory in the case of Carole Cadwalladr and updates on the extradition of Assange, while government pushes forward its aggressive agenda, bringing bills set to undermine democracy.
1. Monday brought news that vindicated Carole Cadwalladr's public interest defence against multi-millionaire Arron Banks, a huge victory for public interest journalism and against lawfare used to silence journalists:
2. But the same could not be said for the case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, as this week the government motioned that it would allow the extradition of Assange to the US, where he faces trial under the Espionage Act:
Read 14 tweets
Clip from December:

How many "donors to the Labour Party" in receipt of Covid contracts can @MattHancock name, do you think?

We can name at least 15 donor-linked firms that were awarded, and a further 15 with non-financial ties to the Conservatives and government.
Mapping the Pandemic - £1 Billion in Contracts Awarded to Conservative Donors:
@allthecitizens @BylineTimes
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/29/map…
Mapping the Pandemic - £2 Billion in Contracts Awarded to Conservative Associates:
@allthecitizens @BylineTimes
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/31/map…
Read 4 tweets
#KeepingTheReceipts week 44.

As war rages on in Ukraine with the UK issuing further sanctions, more Conservative links with prominent Russians emerge, the #CostOfLivingCrisis looms over working families, and the police become embroiled in further scandals...
1. Kicking off, at the start of the week Johnson’s government were set to accept a £2,000 pay rise for MPs as the cost of living crisis hits, with millions being pushed to the brink:


2. The government also quietly dropped plans to cap MPs’ earnings from second jobs, following the lobbying scandal that arose in the wake of the Owen Paterson debacle.
Read 14 tweets
🚨 NEW: This week's newsletter has lift-off 🚀 Featuring a blistering interview with @JolyonMaugham of the @GoodLawProject on Covid contracts, corruption & the 'alarming' police failure to investigate law breaking in Westminster
keepingthereceipts.substack.com/p/where-is-the…
'We've got...a world in which the police are unwilling, or unable to hold to account law breaking, including corruption, in the corridors of power in Westminster. And I find that really, really alarming' @JolyonMaugham
Please watch 👇👇👇
We asked @JolyonMaugham what's the single most corrupt thing he has uncovered since starting @GoodLawProject in 2017. Here's what he told us 👇👇
Read 4 tweets
#KeepingTheReceipts Week 26 focuses on COP26 and cronyism, as we take a deep dive into lobbying scandals in the wake of the twists and turns leading up to the resignation of #OwenPaterson. Let’s Begin:
1. While world leaders gathered in Glasgow, some of those in attendance highlighted that the G20 is failing poorer countries with limited climate progress:
2. It was also revealed that top oil industry representatives like the CEO of BP were platformed at COP, despite claims that they would not be welcome.
Read 12 tweets
In the short time (26 weeks) that we’ve been #KeepingTheReceipts, we’ve recorded 18 instances of MPs or public servants being accused of involvement in lobbying. 🧵
In our first week, Priti Patel was revealed to have lobbied Michael Gove on behalf of a healthcare firm, Pharmaceuticals Direct Ltd, over a £20 million contract for surgical masks:
The same week, Tory peer Eddie Lister apologised for failing to disclose that he was still being paid as an adviser by a firm that received a £187m loan with taxpayer money:
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
Read 20 tweets
🚨BREAKING: an investigation by @BylineBITE and @allthecitizens reveals 12 Covid-contract winning firms tied to the Conservative Party have increased their profits by £121.7 million over the last year, an increase of 57%. THREAD:
It’s now been 18 months since @BylineTimes and @TheCitizens began mapping the multi-million pound Covid-19 crony contract scandal, uncovering £1bn in taxpayer funds being awarded to companies owned by Conservative Party donors:
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/29/map…
A further £2bn was awarded to associates of the Tory Party - ex-councillors, SPADs and advisors, or friends and relatives of politicians:
bylinetimes.com/2021/03/31/map…
Read 25 tweets
#KeepingTheReceipts Week 19 has been as eventful as any other with the cabinet reshuffle, contentious legislation being pushed through at an alarming rate, and a steady stream of reporting on lobbying, donors, and a decline in living standards. THREAD:
1. Further talks over privatising Channel 4 led to increased speculation that the move to pull it out of public ownership amounts to an attack on independent public service broadcasting:
2. The Health & Social Care Bill, accused of enabling further outsourcing of health services and paid for with a £12bn hike in National Insurance, entered committee stage on Tuesday:
Read 14 tweets
🚨NEW:

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, one of the richest MPs, plans to cut Universal Credit by £20, we're #KeepingTheReceipts on twitter/TikTok:
vm.tiktok.com/ZMR9YK6FG/

Subscribe to our Substack for daily updates from
@receiptkeepers and our weekly newsletter:
keepingthereceipts.substack.com
Is the Secretary for Work and Pensions Thérèse Coffey unaware that lots of people on #UniversalCredit already work themselves to the bone and still can't make ends meet?
And that it actually would take up to 9 extra working hours for #UniversalCredit claimants to recoup their £20-a-week benefit cut? And that this cut is predicted to plunge half a million more people into poverty, including 200,000 children?
independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
Read 4 tweets
🚨EXCLUSIVE:

More than a quarter of ‘elite’ Conservative Party donors (giving a minimum of £100,000 in a single donation) have been given a title or honour, raising fresh concerns of a ‘cash for honours’ scandal at the heart of government - from @BylineBITE and @AllTheCitizens
Of the Tory party’s 20 biggest donors since 2010 – individuals donating more than £1.5 million – 11 (55%) hold some form of honour. 10 were awarded these in the last decade

Of 259 donors who gave £100,000+ (where info is available), 67 (26%) hold an honour, title or peerage.
Also, almost all of the 67 decorated donors (96% or 64) were given their titles or honours by the Tories in the last decade - either through New Year, Birthday or Prime Minister’s Resignation Honours or made a life peer by the leader of the Conservative Party.
Read 14 tweets
While Parliament is in recess you could be forgiven for thinking that the news cycle would have slowed down, but sadly this isn’t so.

As #KeepingTheReceipts week 17 draws to a close, we take a look at the latest on Afghanistan, cash-for-honours, and changes to UK law. THREAD:
1. On Monday it was revealed that Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick breached government transparency rules by failing to disclose a meeting with the Conservative lobbying forum:
2. Meanwhile, Dominic Raab faced a grilling from MPs over his luxury holiday to Crete and handling of the crisis in Afghanistan:
Read 14 tweets
As #KeepingTheReceipts week 14 draws to a close, the long-term ramifications of Brexit and cuts to public services, including the NHS, continue to be felt across the UK, and MPs and Lords face renewed scrutiny over their financial dealings. THREAD:
1. The week kicked off with former PM David Cameron once again taking centre stage, after it emerged that he pocketed $10m before finance company Greensill’s collapse, with his spokesperson calling his remuneration a “private matter”
2. Hard-right lobby group, the Institute of Economic Affairs, lost a court battle over it being described as such following a conversation between @PeterKGeoghegan and LBC presenter @mrjamesob, focusing on their opaque funding.
Read 16 tweets
Our #KeepingTheReceipts Week 12 is almost over, and centre stage for much of it yet again is the Home Office, as revelations surrounding detention, policing, and the rights of asylum seekers threaten to further impact the most vulnerable in society:
1. Returning to changes to the Official Secrets Act, on Monday further reports covered the potential 14 year sentences for journalists citing “unauthorised disclosures’, with fears of the UK heading towards becoming an ‘authoritarian police state’
2. The same day, FOI requests uncovered evidence of 52 prisoners in close supervision units being kept in conditions that a UN human rights expert said “may amount to torture”
Read 15 tweets
As we conclude #KeepingTheReceipts week 10, cronyism once more takes centre stage after days of new revelations uncovering VIP contracts, donors/political allies elevated to key positions and the Tories pushing through plans to accelerate #NHS privatisation.

Let’s dive in:
1. On Monday Sue Gray, a key witness who played a major role in granting Greensill Capital formal access to Whitehall, was blocked from giving evidence to the PACAC by the Cabinet Office and Michael Gove
2. The same day, it emerged that Cameron had taken a salary of more than $1m a year for just 25 days work, more than $40,000 per day
Read 14 tweets
It’s been a huge week, and not just for football fans.

In the last 7 days, drastic legislative changes have been brought forward, the unrelenting cronyism at the heart of government continues to be exposed, and cuts threaten thousands of those most at risk.

Let’s recap:
1: The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was passed with a majority of 100, attacking the freedom to peaceful protest, targeting traveller communities and homeless people, and rejecting statutory minimum sentences for rape.
2: The very next day the Home Office published the equally draconian Nationality and Borders Bill, criminalising asylum seekers who enter the UK “irregularly” and those that aid them. It also includes proposals for removing people to “offshore centres”
Read 12 tweets
The Citizens - KEEPING THE RECEIPTS:

In the Queen’s Speech on 11th May, the Johnson administration laid out its plans to introduce major legislative alterations to the fabric of our democracy; paving the way for voter ID, judicial review, and scrapping fixed parliamentary terms. Image
Following attacks on the freedom to protest, billions in public funds issued to Conservative donors, and numerous breaches of parliamentary norms, @allthecitizens have started #KeepingTheReceipts, cataloguing the attempts to undermine our democracy:

keepingthereceipts.substack.com/p/why-keeping-…
As US activist @Amy_Siskind wrote when undertaking this same task during the Trump years:

‘experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember’

- this is exactly what we’re going to do.
Read 9 tweets
NEW: Today #Cummings called secrecy of SAGE ‘a catastrophic mistake’. We know.

It’s why we’ve supported @IndependentSage from the start. And why at 8pm tonight, we launch our @YouTube documentary: the inside story.

(Warning: includes more #Cummings)
Only on May 4, day @IndependentSage launched that govt released SAGE names.

The story of how #Cummings spurred them to action is told for first time. Featuring: @Sir_David_King @globalhlthtwit @SusanMichie @Zubhaque @chrischirp @CarolineLucas & @krishgm
We refuse to let govt off the hook. We refuse to let #Cummings off the hook. It’s why we’ve launched new project #KeepingTheReceipts. Join us at 8.15 for a Twitter Space hosted by @drmeenalviz for a #Cummings deep dive with @GabrielScally @dgurdasani1 @JujuliaGrace & @peterjukes Image
Read 6 tweets
🧐Be the first to spot who is both on the #SundayTimesRichList and on the #CronyTimesRichList, and win a pallet of the unusable PPE your taxes paid for! 🥳😷🍾

⬇️⬇️⬇️
cronyrichlist.com
The pandemic brought so many decent folks to their knees. Our #CronyTimesRichList shares the names and profits of the people who took advantage of it.
cronyrichlist.com
Read 8 tweets

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