#KeepingTheReceipts Week 19 has been as eventful as any other with the cabinet reshuffle, contentious legislation being pushed through at an alarming rate, and a steady stream of reporting on lobbying, donors, and a decline in living standards. THREAD:
1. Further talks over privatising Channel 4 led to increased speculation that the move to pull it out of public ownership amounts to an attack on independent public service broadcasting:
2. The Health & Social Care Bill, accused of enabling further outsourcing of health services and paid for with a £12bn hike in National Insurance, entered committee stage on Tuesday:
3. On top of this, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts bill, which seeks to impose draconian measures on the freedom to protest, also passed its second reading:
4. Off the back of this, the effects of the Bill on the right to peaceful protest are already being felt, as Priti Patel urged the police to crack down on environmental protestors:
5. And a UN Representative has now warned that the UK Nationality & Borders Bill could criminalise Afghan refugees at a time when they’re most in need:
6. Fresh questions were raised on Wednesday over Tory party co-chair Ben Elliot, already mired in cash-for-access claims, and his meetings with government ministers.
7. As experts are warning of a spike in hospitalisations in winter, many patients facing increased waiting times at hospital are being forced into private care, creating what Labour have called a “two-tier health service”
8. And with the cabinet reshuffle underway, concerns about the suitability of several ministers have already come to light. For instance Michael Gove, the new Housing Sec, accepted £120k from property developers in 2021 alone:
10. And excess deaths last year have seen life expectancy in the UK plummet to the lowest level since 2011, with effects being felt disproportionately in more deprived areas of the country:
You can contribute to help us produce journalism that holds government to account, read through our #KeepingTheReceipts spreadsheets, and keep up-to-date with journalists writing for our weekly Substack newsletter all below: keepingthereceipts.substack.com
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While Parliament is in recess you could be forgiven for thinking that the news cycle would have slowed down, but sadly this isn’t so.
As #KeepingTheReceipts week 17 draws to a close, we take a look at the latest on Afghanistan, cash-for-honours, and changes to UK law. THREAD:
1. On Monday it was revealed that Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick breached government transparency rules by failing to disclose a meeting with the Conservative lobbying forum:
As #KeepingTheReceipts week 14 draws to a close, the long-term ramifications of Brexit and cuts to public services, including the NHS, continue to be felt across the UK, and MPs and Lords face renewed scrutiny over their financial dealings. THREAD:
1. The week kicked off with former PM David Cameron once again taking centre stage, after it emerged that he pocketed $10m before finance company Greensill’s collapse, with his spokesperson calling his remuneration a “private matter”
2. Hard-right lobby group, the Institute of Economic Affairs, lost a court battle over it being described as such following a conversation between @PeterKGeoghegan and LBC presenter @mrjamesob, focusing on their opaque funding.
Our #KeepingTheReceipts Week 12 is almost over, and centre stage for much of it yet again is the Home Office, as revelations surrounding detention, policing, and the rights of asylum seekers threaten to further impact the most vulnerable in society:
1. Returning to changes to the Official Secrets Act, on Monday further reports covered the potential 14 year sentences for journalists citing “unauthorised disclosures’, with fears of the UK heading towards becoming an ‘authoritarian police state’
2. The same day, FOI requests uncovered evidence of 52 prisoners in close supervision units being kept in conditions that a UN human rights expert said “may amount to torture”
As we conclude #KeepingTheReceipts week 10, cronyism once more takes centre stage after days of new revelations uncovering VIP contracts, donors/political allies elevated to key positions and the Tories pushing through plans to accelerate #NHS privatisation.
Let’s dive in:
1. On Monday Sue Gray, a key witness who played a major role in granting Greensill Capital formal access to Whitehall, was blocked from giving evidence to the PACAC by the Cabinet Office and Michael Gove
It’s been a huge week, and not just for football fans.
In the last 7 days, drastic legislative changes have been brought forward, the unrelenting cronyism at the heart of government continues to be exposed, and cuts threaten thousands of those most at risk.
Let’s recap:
1: The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was passed with a majority of 100, attacking the freedom to peaceful protest, targeting traveller communities and homeless people, and rejecting statutory minimum sentences for rape.
2: The very next day the Home Office published the equally draconian Nationality and Borders Bill, criminalising asylum seekers who enter the UK “irregularly” and those that aid them. It also includes proposals for removing people to “offshore centres”
In the Queen’s Speech on 11th May, the Johnson administration laid out its plans to introduce major legislative alterations to the fabric of our democracy; paving the way for voter ID, judicial review, and scrapping fixed parliamentary terms.
Following attacks on the freedom to protest, billions in public funds issued to Conservative donors, and numerous breaches of parliamentary norms, @allthecitizens have started #KeepingTheReceipts, cataloguing the attempts to undermine our democracy: