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Tim Picton

@timpicton.bsky.social

Anti-corruption advocacy for @spotlightcorruption.org. Views own or sometimes heavily plagiarised.

78 Posts208 Follower137 Folgt
Spotlight on Corruption@spotlightcorruption.org · 2d ago

It’s very welcome to see the City of London Police's Domestic Corruption Unit making a major arrest in its fight to tackle corruption and fraud in PPE procurement that took place during the worst of the Covid pandemic. 👇 www.cityoflondon.police.uk/news/city-of...

Domestic Corruption Unit make arrest as part of investigation into Covid-19 PPE procurement

The Domestic Corruption Unit (DCU) has arrested one individual and carried out a number of warrants as part of a joint investigation with the National Health Service Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA).

cityoflondon.police.uk

George Greenwood@georgegreenwood.bsky.social · 2d ago

Voters have been denied the right to know whether any ministers declared past criminal convictions when appointed, after a transparency tribunal upheld Whitehall attempts to keep its vetting processes secret for data protection reasons. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Ministers’ criminal records to remain secret, tribunal rules

The public has been denied the right to know of ministers’ disclosures of criminal records during vetting processes, despite a ‘legitimate public interest’

thetimes.com

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

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 NERVE@thenerve.news · 4d ago

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has approved the controversial data centre on behalf of Angela Rayner, overruling Tower Hamlets Council and local opposition. Brick Lane local residents react:

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 5d ago

Turn failing water firms into not-for-profit cooperatives, MPs and mayors tell PM

Turn failing water firms into not-for-profit cooperatives, MPs and mayors tell PM

Labour politicians say mutualised model puts public in control without adding debt to government’s balance sheet MPs and mayors close to Andy Burnham have told the prime minister there is a “third way” tlauo gain more control of failing companies, as the row over whether or not to nationalise Thames Water rumbles on. Burnham is said to be concerned about the increase in government debt that Treasury projections show could be a result of nationalising water companies. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

Tim Picton@timpicton.bsky.social · 5d ago

In all honestly, I think the tenacious work of orgs like @foxglovelegal.bsky.social, @goodlawproject.org and investigative journalists (too many to name here, but you know who you are) in unravelling this huge scandal has been massively undervalued and overlooked...

Martha Dark @marthadark.bsky.social · 5d ago

The NHS failed to disclose that Palantir staff could access identifiable patient information in the Federated Data Platform. Something we've been told for YEARS would not / could not happen. More here: www.ft.com/content/e793...

Byline Times@bylinetimes.bsky.social · last wk.

🔴 NEW Tommy Robinson’s Temple: The Christian Conference Uniting Preachers from the Far-Right Fringe By @mc00.bsky.social Read below. ↓

Tommy Robinson's Temple: The Christian Conference Uniting Preachers from the Far-Right Fringe

Organisers of the "Make Great Britain Christian Again" conference include preachers linked to far-right rallies, prompting warnings that faith is being used to provide moral cover for nationalist politics

bylinetimes.com

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 2w ago

In service to this bubble, AI firms have suborned regional governments into running roughshod over environmental and planning rules in order to build endless acres of data centers, many of which will likely end up casualties of the imminent bubble-pop, never to be switched on or even completed. 5/

Trump on Data Centers: 'You Can't Fight It. You Have to Go With It'

Usually it's not great when a person in power tells others to just give up and do what they want.

gizmodo.com

UCL Constitution Unit@conunitucl.bsky.social · 2w ago

Safeguarding the Constitution: Key Steps to Strengthen UK Democratic Resilience Our latest report, by @lisajames.bsky.social, Meg Russell and @alanrenwick.bsky.social, sets out concrete reforms in a number of areas to safeguard the constitution and protect the integrity of democracy. Read it 👇

New Constitution Unit report makes recommendations to safeguard UK democracy

A new Constitution Unit report, Safeguarding the Constitution: Key Steps to Strengthen UK Democratic Resilience, by Lisa James, Meg Russell and Alan Renwick, focuses on protecting the constitution.

ucl.ac.uk

Tim Picton@timpicton.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is some great reporting - very important to go to the beginning on all of this and scrutinise exactly what was going on at 44/45 Hertford Street from 2013 onwards. Also, a lot of worrying parallels with Patrick Radden Keefe's 'London Falling'...

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 2w ago

Reform UK donor and Farage ally George Cottrell carried a fake Swiss passport under the name ‘Oscar Drewitt’. Cottrell was hired under the name by the future Reform treasurer Mehrtash A’zami. A’zami later vetted Cottrell’s mother's donations to Reform, now the subject of a police investigation

Pete Apps@peteapps.bsky.social · 2w ago

In November, a lobbying firm approached me and asked to pay me to write articles critical of the Building Safety Regulator for newspapers. Filmed undercover, their staff admitted secretly paying reporters for copy in British newspapers friendly to their clients: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Lobbying giant filmed offering reporter payment for flattering client coverage in national press

Exclusive: Guardian investigation of CT Group uncovers practice that appears to seek hidden influence over public opinion

theguardian.com

Spotlight on Corruption@spotlightcorruption.org · 2w ago

Burnham has promised to do politics differently. But the vibe shift won’t be enough. In @labourlist.bsky.social, @suehawley.bsky.social sets out 5 practical reforms the new PM should deliver in his first 100 days - from capping political donations to bringing corporate lobbying out of the shadows.

'Beyond the vibe-shift - five immediate things Burnham should do to mend politics' - LabourList

A failure toshow a serious commitment to restoring trust risks a catastrophic loss of faith in politics. Political reform must start now.

labourlist.org

Alice McCool@mccoolingtons.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEW: CPAC GB last week was written off as a flop. But the network behind it is no joke... My latest investigation for @thenerve.news on its right wing Catholic Gen Z organisers + the web of global dark money forces around them, from US Christian Right to Hungary: www.thenerve.news/p/cpac-confe...

Liz Truss, dark money and the gen-Z Catholics: who’s behind CPAC in the UK?

The British debut of Maga’s favourite conference last week was widely seen as a joke. But a Nerve investigation reveals its young organisers are part of a web of culture-war connections – from the US ...

thenerve.news

Sue Hawley@suehawley.bsky.social · 2w ago

Great spot by @josiahmortimer.bsky.social - this is a really big and welcome step by the government but will it be enough? The next government could raise them again so the government needs to lock in the new elections bill that they can ONLY be raised following a recommendation from the Commission

Josiah Mortimer@josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 3w ago

The Government has just asked the Electoral Commission to review election spending limits, which were massively hiked by the Tories. Could be very significant.

Vijay Rangarajan, Chief Executive, Electoral Commission, 3 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8YZ Samantha Dixon MBE MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF 10 July 2026 Dear Vijay, This Government is committed to strengthening our democracy and upholding the integrity of our elections. In December 2025, in light of the Nathan Gill case, and the deeply concerning evidence of Russian state-linked actors’ attempt to influence democracy in the UK, the Government appointed Philip Rycroft to lead an independent review into foreign financial interference in UK politics. The review set out to rigorously test the financial safeguards we currently have in place and recommend areas for improving mitigations. The Government has welcomed Philip Rycroft’s report and has accepted all of his recommendations, and ahead of Commons Report Stage, the Government has tabled amendments to the Representation of the People Bill to deliver key recommendations from the Review to further strengthen safeguards against foreign financial interference in UK politics. In his report, Philip Rycroft argued that reducing spending limits could potentially relieve some of the fund-raising pressure, in turn diminishing the inducement to look to non-permissible sources to stay ahead. However, he refrained from making a recommendation believing it sat outside of his remit, noting it could be something that could be usefully debated during the passage of the Representation of the People Bill. Party spending limits were raised significantly for the first time in 2023, and since then we have seen many stakeholders argue for lower limits, including Transparency International and Spotlight on Corruption. Considering the concerns I have heard during the course of the Bill, and the wider views presented by Mr Rycroft and other stakeholders, I am of the opinion that an independent assessment is …
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3w ago

Unlicensed casinos could face ban on sponsoring UK sports teams from 2027

Unlicensed casinos could face ban on sponsoring UK sports teams from 2027

Proposal to protect vulnerable and stop money laundering could affect Premier League clubs and Formula One Unlicensed casinos could be banned from sponsoring sports teams in the UK from next year, in a move that poses financial questions for Premier League clubs such as Everton FC and sports including Formula One. Plans for a ban, revealed by the Guardian on Sunday and confirmed by the government on Wednesday, are aimed at protecting vulnerable people and reducing the risk of sport being used by organised crime groups for money laundering. Continue reading...

theguardian.com