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6 Sep, 7 tweets, 3 min read
🔴 A former UK electoral commissioner has condemned the UK government’s “appalling” plan to restrict the independence of the elections watchdog.

Professor David Howarth said the #ElectionsBill poses “serious threats to the fairness of all future elections in Britain”.

~thread
Writing for us, Professor David Howarth said that "many Conservative backbenchers have been gunning for the Electoral Commission ever since it made various decisions they didn’t like in the aftermath of the Brexit campaign"
opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocra…
The #ElectionsBill is set to be debated in the Commons this week.

According to Howarth, it could subject the Electoral Commission to potential political oversight from government ministers
The #ElectionsBill would

🔹 Introduce mandatory voter ID

🔹 Confer new powers on Michael Gove over the Electoral Commission, giving government ministers greater powers to influence the commission’s work

🔹 Change the way that smaller parties are able to campaign
“Electoral Commissions, like the courts, do not exist to please elected politicians. They exist to protect free and fair elections.”

Read the full article by Professor David Howarth ⬇️
opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocra…
Responding to Howarth’s comments, the Labour Party accused the government of a “brazen attack on our democracy”.

“If passed, the legislation will reverse decades of democratic progress in the UK,” said @CatSmithMP, the party’s shadow minister for democracy
Read @martinrw's latest for more background on this story ⬇️
opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocra…

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24 Aug
Do you remember Palantir?

The ‘spy tech’ firm has been awarded more than £46m in public contracts by the UK government and NHS since the start of 2020.

Well, they made £22m in profits last year.

All the details in this thread 👇
First of all, let's look back at 2020.

Last year, we successfully sued the government, forcing it to commit to not extending Palantir’s contract beyond the COVID pandemic without a consultation
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Palantir had increased its lobbying of Conservative ministers before being awarded a crucial NHS contract.

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openDemocracy Profile picture
12 Jul
"By the time I came out of there, I weighed only 40kgs, could not speak well and only walked when supported."

We spoke to more than 50 survivors of anti-LGBT ‘#ConversionTherapy’ on a special investigation into these activities across East Africa.

~thread
Many of the interviewees said that family members had taken them to providers of this ‘therapy’.

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opendemocracy.net/en/5050/conver…
Our undercover reporter was told that being gay is “evil”, something “for whites” and a mental health problem
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openDemocracy Profile picture
8 Jun
WE WON! 🙌

This is a significant legal victory against the UK government.

The judgement forces transparency on a secretive unit accused of ‘blacklisting’ Freedom of Information requests from journalists, campaigners and others.

~thread
After a three-year battle, the judge found that the documents the Cabinet Office presented in court about the controversial Clearing House unit were ‘misleading’.

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openDemocracy Profile picture
8 Jun
🚨 BREAKING: The #NHSDataGrab has been paused!

Thank you to @Foxglovelegal, to our coalition partners (@TheDA_UK, @DavidDavisMP, @justtreatment and @allthecitizens) and to the over 18,000 people who signed our petition. 🙏

But this is a pause, not a stop.

~ thread
The implementation has been pushed back to 1 September.

However, the Government's plan to take the data of every GP patient in England remains the same.

If you aren't satisfied with what's happening to your health records, you can still opt out: medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/
We still have questions:

🔹 How will patients be notified, including people who aren't online?

🔹 On what terms will corporations be allowed to access people's health data?

But the first battle is won. 💪

If you signed our petition, we will update you via email ✉️
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openDemocracy Profile picture
8 Jun
Tory rebels are not the only ones calling for a vote on plans to cut Britain’s international aid budget.

More than 10,000 people have signed our petition to allow MPs to vote on this move 👇
opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocra…
A total of 30 Tory MPs, led by Andrew Mitchell MP, have supported an amendment to reverse the cuts.

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Spending in some of the poorest countries would be cut by as much as 88%
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openDemocracy Profile picture
4 Jun
🔴 We are joining forces with @Foxglovelegal to issue an urgent legal challenge over the government's plans to seize our GP data on 1 July.

We need your help to stop them: opendemocracy.net/en/ournhs/peti…

~ thread
Matt Hancock wants to take the patient records of everyone in England, and enter them all into one massive database.

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opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocra…
This would mean incredibly sensitive data about all of us who use the NHS – including sexual and mental health – being pooled and shared.

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