Tweet

Rachel Reeves

30 Nov, 9 tweets, 4 min read

👥This week in cronyism - and it's not off to a good start.

Sometimes I think this Tory govt imagines we'll all just stop noticing their catalogue of cronyism. They seem to have nothing to say in response.

Stories keep unfolding - Labour will keep holding them to account. 👇

Shocking news just days ago that Hancock's former neighbour won a Covid contract despite no prior experience in medical supplies. He sent a Whatsapp message to the Health Sec. in March asking for a contract.

theguardian.com/world/2020/nov…

That's not the only crony story linked to the Health Secretary this month.

It has also been recently uncovered that he gave a key Covid role to lobbyist pal without even declaring any conflict of interest.

thetimes.co.uk/article/matt-h…

Transparency is key to accountability. This story from Friday shows the Chancellor is failing to declare his close family's substantial commercial interests. How can the public know there is no conflict of interest when they're not declared?

theguardian.com/politics/2020/…

@openDemocracy

Labour's Freedom of Information Act is 20 years old this month and is a crucial right of citizens to ensure transparency. But work by @openDemocracy raised serious q's around this govt's 'clearing house' for FOIs & potential blacklisting of journalists.

opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…

Every week we see stories of businesses linked to the Tory party winning big contract after contract. Here, a former Tory councillor's biz awarded £276m in govt contracts for PPE. Public confidence in these procurement approaches is understandably low.
thetimes.co.uk/article/winner…

@helenhayes_

This rampant cronyism and lack of transparency may prove to be the tip of the iceberg of a government that is letting down taxpayers, businesses and our public services.

This piece from @helenhayes_ for @businessinsider lays out exactly how.
businessinsider.com/labour-johnson…

We are paying the price for crony contracts and incompetence. Last week the National Audit Office revealed the government spent over the odds by £10 billion. Shocking.

bbc.co.uk/news/health-55…

It's unacceptable that friends & donors of the Tory Party are profiting from this pandemic.

From Serco's poor results on contact tracing to paying for warehouses full of Ayanda Capital's unsafe and unused PPE - taxpayers' money is being flushed away. This must change - and fast.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @RachelReevesMP

Rachel Reeves

@RachelReevesMP

29 Nov

We’ve been here before - the clock is running down for the Tories to reach a deal with the EU. Not getting a deal would be one of the biggest political failures of recent history. This degree of reckless incompetence with this Tory government cannot be ruled out.

To end up empty handed without a trade deal and with tariffs would essentially be economic sabotage of British manufacturing industries from their own government. Do Tory ministers care? The current Chancellor didn’t even mention it this week. Pitiful.

Back in February 2019, Michael Gove warned that farmers may never recover from a no deal scenario. Yet fast forward to now, and the added stress the Tories are putting many of our country’s farmers under is unforgivably cruel. scotsman.com/news/politics/…

Read 7 tweets

Rachel Reeves

@RachelReevesMP

22 Nov

Another week in Tory government cronyism - and one where the term "chumocracy" is becoming far too familiar. A thread on what's been happening.👇

@Independent

This isn't just a matter of waste or cronyism - it's a matter of public trust, and it has a huge impact on our public services. My piece this morning in @Independent lays out why this government has got to tackle this now.
independent.co.uk/voices/boris-j…

The health secretary is the latest figure today to face questions over ‘chumocracy’ as it turns out he quietly gave his university friend a job. Answers are urgently needed here.

thetimes.co.uk/article/matt-h…

Read 10 tweets

Rachel Reeves

@RachelReevesMP

15 Nov

There’s only a handful of days left for our dangerously distracted government to deliver the oven-ready deal they promised. Leaving without a deal would be devastating for our industries and for consumers - and would have deep repercussions for the UK. 1/6

It takes zero political skill to leave with no deal. None. It requires no strategy, detailed understanding, diplomacy, negotiation, co-operation or vision. It would be the ultimate admission of Tory failure and it’s absolutely damning that it still can’t be ruled out. 2/6

To end up empty-handed with no deal would be devastating for British industries from farming to manufacturing. Useless Tory ministers tour TV studios admitting they have not even modelled the impact of no deal on our industries. They should hang their heads in shame. 3/6

Read 6 tweets

Rachel Reeves

@RachelReevesMP

11 Nov

@Keir_Starmer

Just now at #PMQs @Keir_Starmer spoke about NEW figures of £130 million spent on comms consultants.

As we wait for the results of the National Audit Office investigation I've called for in the summer, here's a reminder of how this is just the tip of the iceberg 👇

The most recent one, reported only yesterday - was one for £670,000 handed out to a family friend of Dominic Cummings with little experience.
ft.com/content/6159d5…

Then there's also this one with Public First - a £840,000 contract to a company owned by James Frayne, who has previously worked with Cummings, Gove and who co-wrote the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto. It did not go out to tender.

opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-…

Read 6 tweets

Rachel Reeves

@RachelReevesMP

7 Nov

It has been another deeply concerning week for Tory cronyism.

A thread on some of the most troubling stories surfacing over the last few days. 👇

Worth noting up top that Labour's calculations have found *at the very least* £1 billion has been awarded to businesses with clear links to friends and donors of the Tory Party, since the pandemic began.

mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…

First story this week: a dossier revealed minsters squandered £millions on PPE that can't be used safely or within use by dates.

Experienced businesses were overlooked - but a Tory councillor's biz and another owned by a constituency chairman won out...
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8…

Read 8 tweets

Rachel Reeves

@RachelReevesMP

16 Oct

At the last general election Boris Johnson said he had an oven-ready deal, ready to go. He has yet to deliver it. Today we’ve had hot air and excuses over actual solutions. It’s time to take responsibility, Prime Minister. 1/6

This is now the third deadline Boris Johnson has set himself which he’s then missed. It's becoming a habit. Initially he said a deal with the EU would be sorted by July, then September, and then this week. 2/6

Of course everyone needs to prepare as best they can - but how on Earth can ministers lecture businesses to get ready, when the government can't even say if industries from farming, food and car manufacturing will face prohibitive tariffs to their biggest market in 10 weeks? 3/6

Read 6 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!