Here are the texts between Boris Johnson and businessman Sir James Dyson from March 2020. Mr Johnson says he will ‘fix’ the tax system for Dyson’s employees...
In response, Sir James Dyson said it was "absurd to suggest that the urgent correspondence was anything other than seeking compliance with rules" and that his company did not receive "any benefit from the project".
At the time, the U.K. urgently needed ventilators to treat COVID patients. Sir James Dyson said he was able to make them (although it didn’t happen in the end). The gov says there were genuine fears the U.K. wld run out of ventilators
According to the ministerial code - a list of rules setting out the standards of conduct expected of ministers - "a private secretary or official should be present for all discussions relating to government business".
Two weeks after these texts, Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, told a group of MPs that the tax status of people who came to the UK to provide specific help during the pandemic would not be affected.

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More from @vicderbyshire

17 Aug 20
The *reality* of domestic abuse during lockdown: exclusive research for tonight’s @BBCPanorama shows someone called police for help about domestic abuse every THIRTY SECONDS

[thread 👇]bbc.co.uk/news/uk-537817…
as soon as the PM announced lockdown on that night back in March, one of my first thoughts was - what about those living with a violent partner or parent? They would be trapped at home with their abuser effectively 24/7
Those calls to police came from right across the UK, & came from both women & men.

The first in-depth research on the impact of lockdown on DA has been carried out by @womensaid for Panorama.

Two thirds of those living with an abuser said violence got worse under lockdown
Read 19 tweets
13 Jul 20
9am @BBCOne
The gov suspended the benefit sanctions regime at the start of this crisis. Now those sanctions are coming back. Disability rights campaigners say they’re worried that’s going to put pressure on people w disabilities to find work or go out while they’re shielding
Bearing in mind those shocking figures suggesting 22,500 people with disabilities have died from Covid 19 acc to the ONS - that’s almost two thirds of all Covid deaths, one can understand those fears.
We asked to interview the minister for people with disabilities, a man called Justin Tomlinson. He wasn’t available. In a statement the gov told us: ‘it’s completely disingenuous & frankly irresponsible to suggest those needing to shield or self-isolate.....

(cont’d ...)
Read 4 tweets
5 Jun 20
One man’s life, Britain, May 2020

Last month on BBC 1 one mid-morning we spoke to Paul Stewart. He’s a carpenter by trade. In April he moved from London to Bradford for a job working on railway stations. He rented a flat sharing with others.

[thread 👇]
Unfortunately the firm didn’t start him on the job in the end because of the pandemic

(the campaign for people who were never able to take up new jobs and missed out on being furloughed is newstarterjustice.co.uk #newstarter )
Paul then applied for Universal Credit. That process was straightforward he told us, but actually getting any money wasn’t. No payment came thro’. He told us he was eligible for an advance (which you can get on Day 1 to tide you over) of......

90p

Then his landlord evicted him
Read 15 tweets
3 Jun 20
9am @BBCOne

A clinical contact tracer tells me exclusively she’s spent much of her time since the government’s track and trace system went live last week watching Netflix - because she hasn’t been assigned a single case.

[thread 👇]
The woman, who’s a nurse, says she feels guilty being paid £17.35 an hour for ‘sitting idle’. She believes it’s ‘an illusion the system is in place to try & control the virus’ giving an ‘illusion of protection’

👇
Dept of Health say: the new NHS Test & Trace service is up & running and will help save lives. These claims do not reflect the huge amount of work already underway. Anyone can book a test & we have over 25,000 contact tracers in place to undertake this vital work
👇
Read 4 tweets
10 Mar 20
One woman’s life, Britain, 2020:

a rape survivor is having her housing benefit cut by £16 per week because she has a spare bedroom in her council house, which also happens to be a ‘safe house’.

[thread 👇]
The house had been especially adapted for her & her 11 year old son’s safety. It included a panic space, smash-proof glass & a fireproof letter box.
They had been moved there especially to keep them safe from her ex. Her ex had hit her, harassed her, stalked her and raped her.
Read 9 tweets

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