Thread by @allthecitizens

Must-do weekend reading for the sensible Citizen. During the pandemic, @allthecitizens have been exposing government’s mishandling of the crisis, uncovering contracts given to Tory donors, overspending on consultancies, and unlawfully late agreements. Our biggest reports to date:

The Crony Ratio: 8 Conservative donors who collectively were awarded £881m in contracts for a variety of services, who between them have donated £8.2 million to the Tory party since 2001. We chart the golden line of cronyism:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1357676031424028676?s=20

CH&L: A £14.4m contract awarded to CH&L, owned by Frances Stanley, friend of Matt Hancock. Her husband donated £5,000 to Hancock in 2019, and CH&L are based in Hancock’s Newmarket constituency, where he and Stanley sat on a Racehorses committee together:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1359271981342932992?s=20

Plymouth Brethren: Joint investigation by @allthecitizens / @BylineTimes uncovering links between 49 contracts issued to 21 separate companies all linked to an evangelical sect, the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church. The total contract value? Over £1.1bn:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1329069371709222913?s=20

Medacs Healthcare: Uncovered by @allthecitizens and @OpenDemocracy, a thread detailing how private recruitment firm Medacs Healthcare, whose parent co is owned by Lord Ashcroft, was able to secure a massive £350m contract to supply temp staff to the NHS:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1351943500523311105?s=20

Tory Backers Win Contracts Days After Donating: Another @allthecitizens / @BylineTimes collaboration, Three donors; Wol Kolade, Haraldur Agustsson, and ex-Tory councillor Steve Dechan, received large PPE contracts just days after donating to the party:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1367781696427397120?s=20

NAO Report: First of 3 threads detailing the findings of the NAO report into PPE / the fast track lane, highlighting that this lane was operated from the offices of Tory ministers, allowing preferred customers to circumvent procurement rules:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1332038567523135490?s=20

The One Percent: An investigation detailing the revelation that, of £21bn spent since March 2020, 25% (£5.3bn) went to just 1% (10) of the 990 companies that won contracts. 4 of these 10 companies have links to the Conservative party:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1363903253956734980?s=20

Management Consultancy Companies: Over half a billion in public funds spent on management consultancies, £490m won by just 10 firms, the largest amount by far going to Deloitte. Only 21% of these contracts were published within the 30 day legal time limit:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1367175544014528515?s=20

75% of Contracts Issued Unlawfully Late: Finally, contrary to Matt Hancock’s assertion that contracts were issued “only a fortnight” late, @allthecitizens found that at least 1,250 of almost 1,700 were published unlawfully, the average delay being 93 days:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1366806550225051651?s=20

Greeds United: @allthecitizens summary of 16 major Conservative donors and advisors who’ve benefited from lucrative deals during the pandemic. A total £2.1bn in public funds spent across 37 Covid-19 agreements:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1354141400674267141?s=20

Do these stories concern you? Can you help
@allthecitizens reveal more concerning Covid-19 contracts lacking possible due diligence and oversight? If so, please see the thread below to find out how you can help contribute and hold power to account:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1319601008457154565?s=20