This week has marked important victories and losses for Journalism, Victory in the case of Carole Cadwalladr and updates on the extradition of Assange, while government pushes forward its aggressive agenda, bringing bills set to undermine democracy.
1. Monday brought news that vindicated Carole Cadwalladr's public interest defence against multi-millionaire Arron Banks, a huge victory for public interest journalism and against lawfare used to silence journalists:
2. But the same could not be said for the case against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, as this week the government motioned that it would allow the extradition of Assange to the US, where he faces trial under the Espionage Act:
4. But the Home Office has made further steps to create a hostile environment for those fleeing warzones, as it announced a trial scheme to electronically tag migrants, sparking outrage:
5. The EU has also threatened legal action against the UK, for plans to unilaterally abandon parts of the NI Protocol set out in the post-Brexit deal Boris Johnson signed, with the UK potentially breaching international law and risking economic turmoil:
6. After the shock resignation of Lord Geidt, the second ethics advisor to resign under Johnson, reports then broke that the PM was considering scrapping the role of ethics advisor altogether:
7. And as the Tories face a by-election disaster in West Yorkshire and Devon, following two MPs, Imran Khan and Neil Parish, resigning in disgrace, election guru-Lynton Crosby has begun attending PM's morning meetings:
8. With the elections looming, and trust in the PM at an all-time low, Johnson also cancelled a Tory 'Red Wall' conference appearance to take a surprise trip to Kyiv:
9. @BylineTimes / @BylineBITE revealed this week that the government is also refusing to release minutes of its meetings held at the height of lockdown and during the first wave of Covid:
.@allthecitizens launched the first long thread and video for our new #BillWatch campaign, focusing on the raft of new legislation announced in the Queens Speech, many of which further threaten our democracy:
If you'd like to help support our ongoing #ReceiptKeeping and public interest journalism, please consider supporting our new #BillWatch crowdfunder, or follow us on TikTok/Insta/Twitter:
2) The huge story then mysteriously disappears from The Times and other locations repeating the accusations, as reported in The New European: theneweuropean.co.uk/boris-johnson-…
3) @thetimes Journo behind the scoop, Simon Walters, says "I stand by the story 100%", and that he was in comms with No.10, Ben Gascoigne, Mrs Johnson's spokeswoman - none offered an on-record denial.
As war rages on in Ukraine with the UK issuing further sanctions, more Conservative links with prominent Russians emerge, the #CostOfLivingCrisis looms over working families, and the police become embroiled in further scandals...
1. Kicking off, at the start of the week Johnson’s government were set to accept a £2,000 pay rise for MPs as the cost of living crisis hits, with millions being pushed to the brink:
2. The government also quietly dropped plans to cap MPs’ earnings from second jobs, following the lobbying scandal that arose in the wake of the Owen Paterson debacle.
#KeepingTheReceipts Week 26 focuses on COP26 and cronyism, as we take a deep dive into lobbying scandals in the wake of the twists and turns leading up to the resignation of #OwenPaterson. Let’s Begin:
1. While world leaders gathered in Glasgow, some of those in attendance highlighted that the G20 is failing poorer countries with limited climate progress:
2. It was also revealed that top oil industry representatives like the CEO of BP were platformed at COP, despite claims that they would not be welcome.
In the short time (26 weeks) that we’ve been #KeepingTheReceipts, we’ve recorded 18 instances of MPs or public servants being accused of involvement in lobbying. 🧵
In our first week, Priti Patel was revealed to have lobbied Michael Gove on behalf of a healthcare firm, Pharmaceuticals Direct Ltd, over a £20 million contract for surgical masks:
The same week, Tory peer Eddie Lister apologised for failing to disclose that he was still being paid as an adviser by a firm that received a £187m loan with taxpayer money: mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
#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: