Once again, I come back to the fact these guys have created a situation where one of the UK's leading, cis female athletes is scared to go to the loo alone, and the fact that they are celebrating this as a step forward for women's rights.

Equality and Human Rights Commission@equalityhumanright.bsky.social · 10h ago

Our code of practice for services, public functions and associations comes into force today. It provides practical guidance on how the Equality Act 2010 applies to services, public functions and associations. Find out more: https://ow.ly/alIf50Zwrkx

NEW: GB News has now spent a year as the leading news channel (though Ofcom treats its shows as "current affairs"). BARB data says it has been ahead of BBC News Channel and Sky News for 12 months in terms of average views. Still losing money, but gaining influence.

This investigation relates to one first reported by myself and the team of BBC Radio 4's The Naked Week last autumn... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Richard Tice investigated by parliamentary standards watchdog

Tice says the complaint related to a debate on Israeli influence and whether he should have referenced his register of interests.

bbc.co.uk

The Burnham bounce. It needs to be bigger to risk an early election. observer.co.uk/news/columni...

Labour is enjoying a Burnham bounce in the polls. The que...

While a promising start has lifted spirits, the new PM will need much more of a boost if he’s to risk calling an early election

observer.co.uk

New: A business that made a six-figure donation to Reform UK received interest-free loans of £67m from unnamed “related companies” in the months before, raising questions about the possible origin of the funds. observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform given six-figure donation by firm that received £6...

Nigel Farage’s party is facing questions about the lack of transparency over £100,000 in funds donated by a management consultancy

observer.co.uk

The Guernsey connection: on the tangled trail of Christopher Harborne’s Channel Island assets The Reform donor is based in Thailand but linked to four properties and a private jet firm in the Crown Dependency observer.co.uk/news/politic... By @catneilan.bsky.social for @theobserveruk.bsky.social

The Guernsey connection: on the tangled trail of Christop...

The Reform donor may be based in Thailand but he is linked to four properties and a private jet firm far closer to home

observer.co.uk

My investigation into the network that pioneered the "dodgy shop" model just landed. I trace the group’s mid-2000s takeover of the West End souvenir trade, their expansion across the UK, and follow the money used to fuel it all the way to the badlands of Afghanistan the-fence.com/article/grav...

The Graveyard of Empires

Cormac Kehoe went shopping for a souvenir.

the-fence.com

I did find it interesting how Cottrell’s otherwise comprehensive co-authored book on ‘How to Launder Money’ failed to cover the crypto gambling industry…

Cat Neilan@catneilan.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Posh" George Cottrell has lost $1m in the last year, betting on the crypto-based prediction market Polymarket Cottrell has been in the spotlight over his relationship with Nigel Farage, and questions about financial support for the man he reportedly calls “Daddy” observer.co.uk/news/politic...

"Posh" George Cottrell has lost $1m in the last year, betting on the crypto-based prediction market Polymarket Cottrell has been in the spotlight over his relationship with Nigel Farage, and questions about financial support for the man he reportedly calls “Daddy” observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform donor lost thousands betting on Iran and Starmer

Farage ally George Cottrell, previously convicted of fraud in the US, lost more than $1m in crypto gambling on prediction markets

observer.co.uk

A senior civil servant has accused Reform of "sinister" attacks in him, after he published a report on foreign interference in UK politics Zia Yusuf said a Reform govt would "investigate" Philip Rycroft, while Farage called him "an enemy of democracy" observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Senior civil servant slams Reform’s ‘sinister’ attack ove...

Philip Rycroft says comments by Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf accusing him of being an ‘enemy of democracy’ are straight out of the Trump playbook

observer.co.uk

NEW @gabrielpogrund.bsky.social reveals tonight that the Met Police have been investigating donations to Reform UK from fraudster George Cottrell's mother. The investigation has been ongoing since last year and two people have been interviewed by police.

I had to check but this is genuine. What a way to trigger a by-election.

Mark@quigonsmith.bsky.social · 4w ago

🔥

💥Nick Robinson to Zia Yusuf: "Do you really think that Nigel Farage's credibility will be re-establshed by fighting Count Binface in a by-election that nobody pays attention to?"

She's too modest to say it but @annaisaac.bsky.social has led the way on reporting about Reform and Farage's financial affairs. She's having one hell of a year. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Revealed: Farage’s £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering concerns

Exclusive: Latest Guardian revelation about gift from cryptocurrency tycoon comes as Reform UK leader forces byelection

theguardian.com

Farage announced the by-election within an hour of the deadline he was given by the Guardian for responding to the story

Of course… it was another spoiler www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Revealed: Farage’s £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering concerns

Exclusive: Latest Guardian revelation about gift from cryptocurrency tycoon comes as Reform UK leader forces byelection

theguardian.com

Democracies should not accept cash from political parties whose leaders are under investigation for financial nondisclosure of gifts from overseas crypto billionaires.

Latest: Tories won't stand in "fake" byelection but are waiting for "real" one, which they expect to be triggered by the standards investigation Restore also won't stand. Given noises coming out of Labour it sounds v likely they won't either Increasingly likely it will be Farage v Binface

Apologies but misunderstood what I had been told: Reform whips move the writ - but Speaker/MPs can then decide

Cat Neilan@catneilan.bsky.social · 4w ago

Chaos Rupert Lowe says Restore won't stand in * this * byelection but will wait for "The second one...when the investigation into Farage’s finances conclude as we all suspect they will." Also seems as though the whips are able to hold off moving the writ until that point so may not happen at all

Chaos Rupert Lowe says Restore won't stand in * this * byelection but will wait for "The second one...when the investigation into Farage’s finances conclude as we all suspect they will." Also seems as though the whips are able to hold off moving the writ until that point so may not happen at all

So Lowe and Davey both calling for Farage to pay for the by-election so far. This is going to become a theme.

Calling a by-election over the sovereign right of every MP to take secret gifts from a convicted criminal. What a time to be alive.

Nigel Farage has resigned to trigger a byelection "This will be a people vs establishment election" It will give Clacton voters "a chance to stick two fingers up"

While we wait for Farage, have a read of my recent dispatch from Clacton, and how he may fare in a potential byelection

Cat Neilan@catneilan.bsky.social · last mo.

The investigation into Nigel Farage's undeclared £5m is expected to conclude imminently, and rivals are preparing to "throw the kitchen sink" at it. But will he even run? And do the people of Clacton care? I visited on the hottest day of the year to find out observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Yes, except they were different types of breach under investigation and therefore different processes. Johnson was investigated by the Privileges Committee for a contempt of the House. Farage is under investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards for a breach of the Code of Conduct.

As happened with Boris Johnson

Ruth Fox@ruthfox.bsky.social · 4w ago

🧵 Amid all the speculation about Nigel Farage's 2pm statement, it's worth noting paragraph 40 of the Procedural Protocol to the MPs' Code of Conduct. If he announces he's resigning and seeking a by-election, that would not automatically end the investigation into whether he breached the Code in...

The seven year old has spoken

Reading Andrew Ross Sorkin's fascinating book 1929 and it's striking that even a hundred years ago, politicians understood the power of an optimistic speech. Shame for Starmer it was published too late

Proof will be in the pudding etc, but it would be a huge missed opportunity if this is all the government does to strengthen the donor declaration requirements (commencement of section 54a of PPERA) which are currently full of loopholes to be exploited…

Cat Neilan@catneilan.bsky.social · last mo.

In a further move to address fears over crypto, all donors will have to sign a declaration confirming the cash has not been converted from digital currency. False declarations carry a criminal penalty of an unlimited fine or up to one year in prison