Cat Neilan
@catneilan.bsky.social
Whitehall Editor for the Observer & chief investigative reporter for BBC R4's The Naked Week. Politics, investigations and taramasalata
1. You don't make friends with salad 2. You sir are a baboon 3. Quoth the raven: eat my shorts 4. Stupid, sexy [nemesis] 5. Who likes short shorts?
Thomas I-G@thomasig.bsky.social · last wk.The 5 Simpsons lines I’ve uttered most off the top of my head 1. I know you can hear my thoughts boy. Meow meow meow meow... 2. Tramampoline! Trambopoline! 3. Mmmm, 52 slices of American cheese 4. I just think they're neat! 5. I work hard for the money, something something money!
Thanks to Cat Neilan for giving me a quote in this piece about how recent revelations should really focus minds on strengthening donations rules, just as a key and very relevant parliamentary bill is scheduled to come back to the Commons for scrutiny next week...
Cat Neilan@catneilan.bsky.social · 2w agoExc: ‘Posh George’ Cottrell’s Montenegro business closes amid Reform donation investigation observer.co.uk/news/politic...
Exc: ‘Posh George’ Cottrell’s Montenegro business closes amid Reform donation investigation observer.co.uk/news/politic...
‘Posh George’ Cottrell’s overseas business closes as Refo...
The unofficial aide to Nigel Farage has quietly closed a Montenegro company that has been linked to payments made during the 2024 general election
observer.co.uk
🔴 BIG MONEY IS CORRUPTING UK POLITICS From Farage's £5m gift to record donations, money in British politics is off the charts. Today, Democracy for Sale launches a video series w/ @transparencyuk.bsky.social on how super-rich buying UK democracy - and what can be done 🧵 youtu.be/Dn-G0nAlVwY?...
How big money is corrupting UK politics | Going, Going, Almost Gone, Ep. 1
YouTube video by Transparency International UK
youtu.be
Episode one of "How Big Money is Corrupting UK politics" out now, with @oliverbullough.bsky.social @catneilan.bsky.social @duncanhames.bsky.social Faiza Shaheen and more The final two episodes drop next week - all presented by a hirsute Irishman 😜 Follow them all at democracyforsale.substack.com
Democracy for Sale | Peter Geoghegan | Substack
A newsletter dedicated to revealing how dark money and hidden influence threaten our democracy. Click to read Democracy for Sale, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
democracyforsale.substack.com
🚨NEW OUT TODAY🚨 🎬Episode 1 of Going, going, almost gone: How big money is corrupting UK politics. Ft. @duncanhames.bsky.social @catneilan.bsky.social @oliverbullough.bsky.social @faizashaheen.bsky.social @petergeoghegan.bsky.social @suehawley.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn-G...
How big money is corrupting UK politics | Going, Going, Almost Gone, Ep. 1
YouTube video by Transparency International UK
youtube.com
From 2015–2024, the share of donations from donors giving £1m+ grew from 1% to 35%. In the 2024 election, a record £94.5m was spent. Any UK individual can still donate unlimited sums. MPs debate the Representation of the People Bill next week. This is an opportunity we can't afford to miss. 2/3
🎬 EPISODE 1: HOW BIG MONEY IS CORRUPTING UK POLITICS 🗣️ "We're in an arms race, and we're in an arms race with no guardrails" - @suehawley.bsky.social Today we publish Episode 1 of Going, Going, Almost Gone: How the Super-Rich Are Buying UK Democracy with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social 1/3
How big money is corrupting UK politics | Going, Going, Almost Gone, Ep. 1
YouTube video by Transparency International UK
youtube.com
Am *super* excited about this video series Democracy for Sale has made with the wonderful people at @anticorruption.bsky.social Launches tomorrow!
Transparency International UK@transparencyuk.bsky.social · 2w ago🎬GOING, GOING, ALMOST GONE In partnership with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social, tomorrow we're releasing episode 1 of a 3 part minidocumentary series on how the super rich are buying UK democracy. 🔁 Subscribe to youtube.com/@TransparencyUK to not miss it and share to help end big money in politics.
🎬GOING, GOING, ALMOST GONE In partnership with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social, tomorrow we're releasing episode 1 of a 3 part minidocumentary series on how the super rich are buying UK democracy. 🔁 Subscribe to youtube.com/@TransparencyUK to not miss it and share to help end big money in politics.
Reports of a second derailment in 24 hours, this one in Essex. This country is not ready for global heating.
Emma Yeomans@yeomans.bsky.social · 3w agoLong afternoon in my home town covering a train derailment. The fields where I grew up dogwalking full of emergency vehicles. This is a truly scary time and appropriately scary front page.
Nigel Farage has been re-elected as the MP for Clacton, but refused to attend the count to avoid being “humiliated by nobodies” @catneilan.bsky.social, reports. Photograph by Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images https://bit.ly/4wSPg9U
‘Humiliated by nobodies': Farage keeps his seat in Clacto...
The Reform leader still faces a parliamentary investigation and potential byelection later this year, but he has shored up local support for his party
bit.ly
Following Andy Burnham's remarks about the UK's "poorest communities" housing a disproportionate number of asylum seekers, I did some digging Dispersal has become a lot more evenly spread over the past decade but striking disparities exist inews.co.uk/news/the-cot...
The Cotswolds, New Forest and Malvern among 17 areas with no asylum seekers
New analysis shows the North West of England houses the largest number of asylum seekers - as Burnham says middle-class areas must 'play their part'
inews.co.uk
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 · 4w agoOur 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 · 2mo 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 · 2mo 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
