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UK government running ‘Orwellian’ unit to block release of ‘sensitive’ information
Exclusive: Secretive Cabinet Office 'Clearing House' for Freedom of Information requests also accused of “blacklisting” journalists; openDemocracy launching a legal bid for transparency
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Published in:Dark Money InvestigationsPioneering FOI peer calls for investigation into ‘Orwellian’ Cabinet Office unitLord Clark calls for inquiry in wake of openDemocracy’s revelations about the secretive unit ‘blacklisting’...
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Published in:Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: Former Tory chairman was secretly appointed as COVID advisorRole for former Conservative chairman and corporate lobbyist Andrew Feldman prompts fresh concerns about privileged...
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Published in:Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationOil firm linked to DUP dark money man collapses owing investors £4.5mRichard Cook signed an oil deal with a Texan company run by a convicted fraudster. The Scottish company involved has...
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Published in:Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationDark money think tank’s own advisor accuses it of ‘hiding’ behind charity law to lobby‘Disillusioned’ Institute of Economic Affairs advisor criticises hard Brexit think tank – while new documents show...
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Published in:Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: 'Sloppy' Whitehall departments spent £56m on COVID-19 consultantsBritish government departments have spent over £56m on consultancy firms during the pandemic, with most contracts...
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Published in:Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationConservative donor given government export deal met senior Tories privatelyA billionaire whose firm was given a £1.5 million loan by UK Export Finance earlier this year admits attending...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationTory donor Lord Ashcroft’s outsourcing firm lands £350m vaccination contractMedacs Healthcare is part of a group whose largest shareholder is Michael Ashcroft – who has given millions to the...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: OpinionUS is paying for letting dark money and disinformation run riotBillionaires such as Charles Koch spent a fortune convincing ordinary Americans to doubt everything - they shouldn't...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: Prominent Tory MP faces calls for investigation over lobbying tiesAndrew Bridgen lobbied ministers for “appropriate tax treatment” for a British teak plantation in Ghana – and later...
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Published in: ourNHS: OpinionControversial ‘spy tech’ firm Palantir lands £23m NHS data dealExclusive: UK government sneaks through new COVID data contract, despite legal challenges.
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationLocal authority accuses secretive Russian Tory donor’s firm of ‘abusing planning laws’Portsmouth City Council raises concerns about Aquind’s £1.2billion undersea power link project
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: Government’s ‘Orwellian’ unit blocked infected blood scandal disclosureCampaigner whose father died of HIV calls secrecy ‘outrageous’; staff in Michael Gove’s Cabinet Office cited Chilcot...
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Published in: Dark Money InvestigationsHow the UK government is undermining the Freedom of Information ActFrom delaying tactics and stonewalling to schoolboy errors, the government is making its disdain for transparency laws clear.
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: OpinionIs the government’s secretive ‘Clearing House’ lawful? An expert explainsWhen government departments share the names of people making freedom of information requests, they may be breaking...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: OpinionI sent FOIs to UK government departments – then they shared my personal dataopenDemocracy reporter Jenna Corderoy on her personal experiences of trying to prise information from an...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationPR firm at centre of Covid vaccine tsar row went on ‘frenzied’ hiring spreeAfter Admiral Public Relations was paid £670,000 to advise Kate Bingham, the PR firm – which has ties to Dominic...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: ‘Failing’ Serco won another £57m COVID contract without competitionAs Serco's share price soars, government accused of "shovelling huge sums of public money to a handful of...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationGovernment accused of ‘cronyism’ after Tory councillor wins £156m COVID contractStroud councillor Steve Dechan ran a small, loss-making firm distributing medical devices. Documents show it signed...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: OpinionCynical British public bodies are denying our FOI rightsFreedom of Information is a powerful tool for citizens - but the UK's legislation needs to be amended to prevent...
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Published in: Dark Money InvestigationsGovernment outsourcing of COVID-19 response is “national scandal” says select committee memberLabour’s Dawn Butler says pandemic being used as a “cover” to avoid accountability, comments come in wake of latest...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationCummings and Gove allies won fresh COVID contract for A-level crisis workExclusive: Government accused of wasting taxpayer money after Public First landed contract without competition to...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: Electoral Commission’s private concerns about Russian Tory donorsUK elections watchdog alerted staff to 'interesting donations' from Lubov Chernukhin – and queried other Tory...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: Travel agent lands fresh Serco Test and Trace work – despite staff training concernsHays Travel has banned staff from speaking to the media about Serco’s heavily-criticised COVID-19 operations – but...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: ‘Alternative Irish border’ Brexit lobbyist in fresh conflict of interest rowShanker Singham, reappointed to key government trade role, paid to lobby influential Biden allies on post-Brexit...
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Published in: Dark Money Investigations: InvestigationRevealed: Boris Johnson under fire over ‘personal’ meeting with Russian oligarch during COVID-19 pandemicPrime minister met Evgeny Lebedev’s company days after telling the British public to avoid ‘non-essential contact’....
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Published in: Home: InvestigationDeloitte gets another huge COVID contract – for ‘crazy’ plan to test millions each dayOperation Moonshot could be the biggest NHS privatisation in history, and civil servants are shaking their heads in...