David Leigh
@davidleighx.bsky.social
Journalist. Author of "Investigative Journalism: a survival guide" ( Palgrave) http://bit.ly/2lLQhSy. Was Guardian Investigations Editor; ex-IMPRESS. Posts are news not endorsements.
Jon Boutcher, a senior police officer who took over responsibility for the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) unit, concluded within months that it had to be wound up because it was conducting unjustified surveillance and was badly run. #spycops www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Undercover police unit closed down over unjustified surveillance, spycops inquiry told
Senior officer behind closure says SDS caused ‘incalculable harm’ by infiltrating groups that posed no threat
theguardian.com
An undercover police unit that spied on tens of thousands of political activists had to be shut down amid severe criticisms and recriminations, the #spycops public inquiry has heard. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Undercover police unit closed down over unjustified surveillance, spycops inquiry told
Senior officer behind closure says SDS caused ‘incalculable harm’ by infiltrating groups that posed no threat
theguardian.com
Most of the political groups being infiltrated “posed no threat to public order, let alone democracy”. They included pro-Palestinian supporters and leftwing groups. "No undercover capability existed to infiltrate dangerous terrorist groups.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Undercover police unit closed down over unjustified surveillance, spycops inquiry told
Senior officer behind closure says SDS caused ‘incalculable harm’ by infiltrating groups that posed no threat
theguardian.com
During 40 years, the undercover officers had spied on environment groups, Socialist Workers party ,campaigns against racism and the arms trade. They included pro-Palestinian supporters and leftwing groups. They posed no threat to public order, let alone democracy” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Undercover police unit closed down over unjustified surveillance, spycops inquiry told
Senior officer behind closure says SDS caused ‘incalculable harm’ by infiltrating groups that posed no threat
theguardian.com
As a professional journalist, I am often bewildered by Guardian reporting which fails to name the individual it's actually talking about - in this case the un-named National Gallery "director". Is it idleness or just timidity? www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
National Gallery security staff segregated like ‘second-class citizens’, curator claims
Exclusive: Outsourced guards, largely from minority ethnic backgrounds, barred from staff hub for mainly white employees
theguardian.com
Kremlin gold!! Stunning if true
Carole Cadwalladr@carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 4d agoNEW: The Abramovich connection. How convicted money launderer George Cottrell - & close aide to Nigel Farage - ‘signed documents’ for one of Putin’s closest allies. My latest for @thenerve.news 1/ www.thenerve.news/p/george-cot...
Is the BBC deigning to cover this story? Or is it deemed less important than Farage's 'outrage' over Polanski's guillotine repost? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Revealed: George Cottrell transferred $2m to his mother days before her donations to Reform UK
Exclusive: Sources say Fiona Cottrell told bankers the transfers, received 24-72 hours before her donations to Reform, came from her son
theguardian.com
BBC News - Police investigate donations by Tice company to Reform UK www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Police investigate donations by Richard Tice company to Reform UK
Britain Means Business, owned by the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice, made two donations of £250,000 in the run-up to the 2024 general election.
bbc.co.uk
BBC News - Ex-Coronation Street actor to receive 'substantial' libel damages from the Sun publisher www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Ex-Coronation Street actor to receive 'substantial' libel damages from The Sun publisher
Qasim Akhtar is to receive "substantial" damages to settle a High Court libel claim from a story last eyar.
bbc.co.uk
Breaking News: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the war in Iran has cost $37.5 billion so far, as he requested about $70 billion more. nyti.ms/4hoMm7N
Trump Live Updates: Hegseth Estimates Cost of Iran War Has Reached $37.5 Billion
nyti.ms
Yes, very gloomy, but a lot of us wouldn't be seen dead at a Spectator summer party www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Why has Britain’s oldest political magazine become such a rabid cheerleader for Islamophobia? | Nesrine Malik
A report on the Spectator’s coverage of Muslims makes for grim reading. Conservatism is now focused on this minority to the exclusion of everything else, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
theguardian.com
Nigel Farage admits George Cottrell paid for filming and let him use his home
Nigel Farage admits George Cottrell paid for filming and let him use his home
Reform leader says support from fraudster before last election is ‘totally undeclarable in every single way’ Nigel Farage has admitted his close friend the fraudster George Cottrell let him use one of his London homes and paid for social media filming before the last election but insisted it was “totally undeclarable in every single way”. The Reform UK leader spoke in depth for the first time about his support from Cottrell and the £5m gift from the Thailand-based businessman Christopher Harborne in an interview with the anti-woke Triggernometry podcast. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
It's like "Kremlin Gold", isn't it? Just the other way round www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Trump administration to grant $12m to groups founded by UK conservatives Jacob Rees-Mogg and Toby Young
Exclusive: Controversial grants are part of package criticised as misuse of public money to influence European politics
theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’? Not quite – but the Falklands cannot remain British for ever | Simon Jenkins
The enmity between London and Buenos Aires has gone on for far too long – sooner or later, wise heads will prevail, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins
theguardian.com
Daily Mail Not Allowed to Write Misleading Headlines Shock www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...
judiciary.uk
