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16 Apr, 12 tweets, 4 min read
This is the week Tory sleaze caught up with this government. A thread.
After 40 days of silence, we started the week with a cynically timed and shabby statement from David Cameron.

This raised far more questions on his lobbying of the current Conservative govt, motivated by the prospect of a £multimillion personal payout.

mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
By Monday afternoon, Boris Johnson was starting to feel the heat as more lines from Cameron and Greensill lobbying and sleaze were drawn to ministers in his government.

So he announced a review - one that looked very much like a cover up.

labourlist.org/2021/04/reeves…
The government selected Nigel Boardman to run the review. You can see why when he
➡️Was paid £20k/year as non-exec director at BEIS

➡️Whitewashed govt’s pandemic procurement

➡️Works for a law firm that made £8m from Carillion

➡️Was given a role at the British Museum by Cameron
It's no surprise the Tories don’t want to tackle the real scandals of commercial lobbying.

Instead they have been far more interested in gagging charities and trade unions representing working people rather than regulating commercial interests.

theguardian.com/politics/2021/…
One of the real world consequences of Greensill’s collapse is thousands of jobs at risk in the UK’s steel communities, from Hartlepool to Stocksbridge.

But instead of coming to Parliament to answer @AnnelieseDodds, Rishi Sunak was nowhere to be seen.

By #PMQs, story after story was bringing the scandal closer to the door of Number 10.

Johnson had only bluster when Keir Starmer asked him serious questions on how his own Conservative ministers allowed this scandal to unfold.

On Wednesday afternoon Labour called on all MPs to vote with Labour - to uncover the scandal with a proper, parliamentary inquiry with public hearings.

The Conservatives voted instead for a cover up.

Since that vote, we've seen story after story come out.

There’s been stories of a senior Cabinet Office figure advising Greensill, about ACOBA - and now about the lobbying interests of Boris Johnson’s closest advisers.

The web of sleaze keeps leading directly into Number 10.
It is welcome that a number of Select Committees will now look closer at this scandal. But this isn't enough and it isn’t the end of this.

Because this is much, much bigger than Greensill and David Cameron.

It's about a government that chooses to cover up the truth instead of addressing it, that believes in one set of rules for themselves, and another for everyone else.

Labour will hold the government to account.

We will introduce an Integrity and Ethics Commission to clean up the mess of Conservative cronyism.

We will not rest until this sleaze is cleared up, and standards in public life are restored. 
 

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More from @RachelReevesMP

Rachel Reeves Profile picture
28 Mar
Over the last year, we've seen a growing catalogue of Tory cronyism and waste.

With jobs in the balance and huge sums of taxpayer money spent, today’s @thesundaytimes investigation on Greensill underlines again why this must stop.

Here’s what's unfolded this week - a thread.⬇️
The more we scratch under the surface of Greensill, the more worrying it becomes.

We need a thorough investigation into how Cameron lobbied for Greensill, and what role government played in such a hugely irresponsible company getting so much access.
theguardian.com/politics/2021/…
Then there’s the luxury refurb of the Prime Minister’s flats at No.10 Downing Street, where questions continue to amass but answers seem in short supply.

@SarahOwen_ wrote to the Cabinet Secretary with some of the questions this week - the list is long.
Read 8 tweets
Rachel Reeves Profile picture
25 Feb
The news about Serco today will outrage taxpayers.

Its their money - meant to fund a contact tracing system which has never been up to scratch - that is now instead being paid to Serco shareholders via dividends. 1/6
ft.com/content/0dca97…
This is also the company, who said in a leaked letter, that Covid was an opportunity for them to cement themselves into our NHS supply chain. 2/6
theguardian.com/society/2020/j…
This whole saga is typical of this government’s appalling waste during the pandemic.

They should have done with contract tracing as was with the vaccine - placed it in the hands of our NHS and local communities, instead of using it to hand huge profits to Serco. 3/6
Read 6 tweets
Rachel Reeves Profile picture
16 Feb
What exactly happened with Public First yesterday, and revelations that both Dominic Cummings and Michael Gove were linked to a lucrative Covid contract awarded to them?

Discovering the truth of that has been months in the making. THREAD 🧵
In March, Public First won a contract for £840,000 - they ended up being paid around £500,000 - without tender or a written contract.

Both Gove & Cummings said they had nothing to do with the award, despite links with heads of Public First, including work on 2019 Tory Manifesto.
Then in May (around a month after Cummings made his infamous Barnard Castle trip), the contract was retrospectively awarded.

This is one of the troubling practices the National Audit Office highlighted in their report into pandemic procurement at the hands of this government.
Read 10 tweets
Rachel Reeves Profile picture
17 Jan
This Tory government is in denial about their incompetent preparations, and at the growing problems from the deal they negotiated with the EU.

Just like their handling of Covid-19, there’s no urgency either.

But the more they ignore issues the bigger they become. [THREAD]👇
Right now, the biggest industry the Tories have grown is red tape and form filling.

This is all adding to the stress, disruption and delays to British businesses which they can ill afford.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Having spent months talking up this deal as the saviour of British fishing, the problems that have followed have been a stark and concerning contrast.

More and more in the industry highlight the difficulties in selling to vital EU markets.
Read 10 tweets
Rachel Reeves Profile picture
13 Jan
This government’s procurement is an ugly mark on its pandemic response.

We’ve seen millions wasted on unusable PPE, a national Serco tracing system not reaching contacts it should, and a growing catalogue of cronyism.

But what's happened this week is a new low.
🔴THREAD🔴
This government outsourcing #FreeSchoolMeals leaves families with shocking replacements for normal vouchers. These photos are a disgrace.

But while they seem adamant to not feed hungry children, let's remind ourselves of contracts they have splashed on in recent months...
In April, the Tories gave £250 million to Ayanda Capital for 50 million face masks - which were later found to be unsafe for NHS workers.

Labour highlighted this as one of the early examples of cronyism given links to the Tory party.

theguardian.com/world/2020/aug…
Read 10 tweets
Rachel Reeves Profile picture
30 Nov 20
👥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…
Read 9 tweets

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