Thread by @receiptkeepers

#KeepingTheReceipts week 72.

Still reeling from the "fiscal event" announcement, Team Truss hasn't had the best start in the conferences either, with prominent Tory MPs expressing displeasure with the govt, while multiple cronyism scandals swirl around the new administration...

1. Following the last couple of weeks' scandals involving chief of staff Mark Fullbrook, the week began with the announcement that he would no longer be paid a wage via his own lobbying firm...

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1574684734328045568?s=20&t=uFPyBK7rF-CeezU1qurMhQ

However, this was short-lived, as it was announced four days later that two further Truss aides were also paid via the same entity:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576652108782526464?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

2. As the pound hit record lows at the start of the week, with the Bank of England having to step in to calm markets, it was revealed that Tory donor Crispin Odey and other hedge fund managers had profited from the fall:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1574690768739966977?s=20&t=uFPyBK7rF-CeezU1qurMhQ

Odey's fund, which used to employ chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, recorded gains of 140% amid the uncertainty...

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1575582819828789248?s=20&t=uFPyBK7rF-CeezU1qurMhQ

3. It then emerged that the chancellor had attended a 'champagne party' with financiers who may have profited from the crash:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576609395626369025?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

4. With the free-market wing of the Conservatives now in control, largely based in Tufton Street among a network of like-minded think-tanks, the Byline Times explored the influence of these entities on the new admin:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1574755451081818114?s=20&t=uFPyBK7rF-CeezU1qurMhQ

5. Also, one of the scandals from the Johnson era re-emerged, as it was revealed that a firm which featured prominently during the PPE cronyism scandal posted gains of £13 million, split across 3 firms:

https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1574744594377498624?s=20&t=uFPyBK7rF-CeezU1qurMhQ

6. Jacob Rees-Mogg appeared in two separately damning reports this week.

First, his funding ties to Canadian pipeline giants and palm oil deforestation were revealed:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1574756522965569536?s=20&t=uFPyBK7rF-CeezU1qurMhQ

7. Then, today it was reported that his business partner from Somerset Capital Management, Dominic Johnson, is to take a role as a government minister and is to be awarded a peerage:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576610649354153985?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

8. In other honours news, Harry Mount resigns from the Lords Appointments Commission a fortnight after taking the role, with sources variously citing "cronyism row" and "personal reasons" for the departure, as the panel vets Johnson's Lords appointments:

https://twitter.com/Gabriel_Pogrund/status/1576471460918759424?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

Mount himself, who authored 'The Wit and Wisdom of Boris Johnson' and was appointed by the former PM, was himself subject to cronyism accusations following his appointment:
theguardian.com/politics/2022/…

Among those tipped for a peerage are millionaire Tory donor Christopher Moran:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576642905808437250?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

9. In conference, Truss faced attacks from her own party due to her pledge to cut taxes on the richest in society:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576654155476656129?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

After doubling down on the massively unpopular policy earlier in the week, Truss has further angered Tories by threatening to withdraw the whip from anyone who doesn't support her measures:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576622161757843457?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

10. The conference more generally hasn't been much better in terms of optics, with the Tory chairman Jake Berry telling Brits who can't afford bills that they can cut spending or get a new job:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576624313041461249?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

Also, Young Conservative Network chairman Daniel Grainger was told to "grow up" and leave Birmingham by Mayor Andy Street, after branding it "a dump", sparking outrage:

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576656249931776000?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ

After only a short time, the wheels might already be coming off the Truss government, as even the author of the 2019 Conservative manifesto, Rachel Wolf, said during the conference that it was "highly unlikely" the Tories will win the next election...

https://twitter.com/receiptkeepers/status/1576624793709088769?s=20&t=jApIbBagj63CJloej_69oQ