As headlines swirl, let's take a step back:
1) Evidence of #DowningStreetParties has been sitting on many people's desks & consciences since early 2020 and only became known due to infighting in Tory Party. Nothing to do with the country, shame or awareness of the hypocrisy.
1/5 2) Evidence is being gathered by #SueGray a civil servant who'll report to #Boris - he'll then be judge & jury on what happens next including deciding if her recommendations are published.
A report with no legal standing.
A further pointless waste of taxpayers' money.
#PMQs
2/5

Interesting week for the art of political distraction.
#europesuperleague either fan-power or competition law would've halted the plan, but political speed to bank political capital was unprecedented. Compare with days it took for PM to react to violence in Northern Ireland
1/5 #Boris & his Govt's slow reaction to #COVIDSecondWaveInIndia #GreensillScandal why Defence Minister Johnny Mercer is being dismissed, @GoodLawProject discovery yesterday about #Torysleaze donor awarded a £100m #PPE contract & why his name why redacted
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-566679…
2/5

Tomorrow #Govt isn't introducing a new Act as some are reporting. It’s a vote to renew powers as required by S98 #coronavirus Act 2020 legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/s… . Motion “That the temporary provisions of the Coronavirus Act 2020 should not yet expire.”
whatson.parliament.uk/event/cal34363
1/9 1st review was in Sept 2020 when I & others urged #MPS NOT to renew the powers as HMG already have necessary powers under existing legislation & due to our concerns of mass scale curtailing of our civil liberties & the creation of an unintentional wave of #authoritarianism
2/9

Make no mistake, under the cover of #COVID19 this government is profiteering in terms of power. I've been trying to get people to wake up – eg article I wrote in Dec 2020 theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
But against the back drop of last night on #ClaphamCommon
1/11 And the #PoliceCrimeSentencingCourtsBill coming before #Parliament tomorrow/Tues, we need a social media storm before we end up with a police state where our silence results in our civil liberties eroded in ways that it will be almost impossible to claw back.
2/11

Today #Labour is calling for emergency legislation to remove "dangerous #antivax content", such as posts against the use of #Vaccines - whilst there's an urgent need for action in respect of the #pandemic , this is only one symptom of a much bigger issue re #socialmedia
1/3 Big tech companies are allowed to make billions with impunity. They have too much power over our economy, society, health, democracy & discourse. Platforms that allow abuse, distortion of truth & bullying on industrial scales are to poisoning our lives
2/3

As more people question the number of time Govt is bypassing #Parliament to restrict our lives; and question why they're still allowed to do so, even though we're not in the state of emergency as we were in March, might I remind MPs & commentators that many of us flagged this
1/6 when the #Coronavirus Bill was introduced to House of Commons 19 March 2020, not only was it being rushed through & was complex and lengthy, it contained significant constitutional & civil liberties implications - inc creating extensive delegated powers & Henry VIII powers.
2/6

Back from @CommonsTreasury session & will share some of the dubious answers Andrew Bailey gave to questions triggered by our @True_and_FairUK Asleep at the Wheel report & other campaigns inc @LCFBondholders
@mortgageprison - delighted the Committee found our report helpful Mr Bailey took the panel on a history lesson & suggested that as @TheFCA is only a young organisation, started in 2013 it doesn't have the reputation or integrity as the @bankofengland
@CommonsTreasury

Several #TacticalVoting websites are claiming they're responsible for the tactical voting success in 2017 GE. Simply untrue. It was the then Best for Britain campaign & team which I launched, raised funds for & led. All these sights are going to split the remain tactical vote Voters are far more volatile than in 2017 & the Brexit Party vote share is much higher than the UKIP vote in 2017 so their pact with the Tories will have more effect. In the 1997 tactical vote about 30% of the vote went the wrong way - we can't afford for that to happen