As the Conservative party begins the process of electing another leader – and therefore, a de facto election of the Prime Minister – here’s a summation of our application for judicial review on the way it elects its leader. 🧵⬇️ In August, Liz Truss was elected by a handful of the population – Conservative party members.

But nobody knows exactly who these people are – or how secure the process is. So we asked the Conservative Party to tell us.

This morning, we sent a letter to the Conservative Party to seek a Judicial Review of its conduct of the election of Party leader and the UK's next prime minister.

This is because we believe it is undemocratic and unlawful.

THREAD ⬇️🧵

torto.se/3wFpM2K The process by which Conservative Party chooses the next PM is unrepresentative.

The membership accounts for little over 0.2% of the population and includes non-UK citizens and under-age voters.

This is Emanuel Gomes.

He was a cleaner at the Ministry of Justice, working for £9.08 an hour, which was just above the legal minimum.

He continued to come into work during the early days of the lockdown.

He died on 23 April 2020. Emanuel and his colleagues had petitioned their employer for occupational sick pay.

They pointed out that failing to guarantee workers a basic survival income if they fell ill would force potentially infectious people to leave home and endanger others.

But they were refused.

EXC: Downing Street has confirmed our story that Boris and Carrie Johnson made use of Chequers between 16th and 27th March 2020 – with the PM accused of moving between Chequers and London against government guidance.

In today's @tortoise Sensemaker 🧵👇

torto.se/3KcwItu Between 16 and 27 March 2020, people were instructed not to visit second homes, and from 26 March 2020 they were legally prohibited from doing so.

torto.se/3KcwItu

For many #Covid_19 patients, the worst thing about it is that for months after falling ill they still can’t think straight.

Today we’re trying to answer the key question of how Covid affects the brain (thread): It’s possible that cognitive issues stem from any of the following:
a) the body’s inflammatory response going into overdrive
b) a lack of oxygen reaching the brain (hypoxia)
c) high levels of blood clotting
d) the experience of being on a ventilator

https://twitter.com/Dr2NisreenAlwan/status/1308131284053643265

The long-term, multi-system effects of Covid-19 on survivors are a rising cause for concern.

This week we’re investigating the causes and effects of so-called “long Covid”. A contested study published in July found that close to 80 per cent of recovered Covid patients still had cardiac abnormalities two to three months after diagnosis with the virus.

torto.se/2RKbcC2

"We need global leadership now more than ever, and yet there is little evidence of it" — our co-founder James Harding

The ‘G7bn’ urgently needs an agenda for leadership. Yesterday we began to discuss what this might be.

Here are the highlights (thread) #TortoiseG7bnSummit Early in the morning, CEO of @AstraZenca Pascal Soriot revealed that a coronavirus vaccine could be ready by the end of this year.

Who said slow journalism can’t be news leading? #TortoiseG7bnSummit

https://twitter.com/tortoise/status/1304030966718107649

LIVE NOW: Is global leadership doomed – or due for a revival?

For our final session of the #TortoiseG7bnSummit we’re joined by:
@GayleSmith, CEO @ONECampaign,
@lisanandy, Shadow Secretary for Foreign Affairs
@IvoHDaalder, President, @ChicagoCouncil “When I look at where we are, I don't think I've seen anything like this in my lifetime” – @IvoHDaalder, President
@ChicagoCouncil, in the final session of the #TortoiseG7bnSummit

In our penultimate session of the day we are joined by award winning British-Ghanaian architect @dadjaye to talk about the fundamentals of designing a better world.

Don’t miss it. Join us from wherever you are right now.
torto.se/31HcZfP "What it [2020] has done profoundly is to create a global pause that we have not had for a very long time. " – @dadjaye, joins us live at the #TortoiseG7bnSummit

Right now, we’re asking: will Covid-19 change how we think about food security?

Join us live and in conversation with @AmirMAbdulla of @WFP and @welshce of the Global Food Security Program

#TortoiseG7bnSummit @AmirMAbdulla @WFP @welshce "A nutrition crisis leads to an education crisis" –@AmirMAbdulla of @WFP live at the #TortoiseG7bnSummit

STARTING NOW: We’re excited to be joined at the #TortoiseG7bnSummit by our keynote speaker, former US ambassador to the UN, @SamanthaJPower.

Our question for this session: what role can global organisations play in 2020?
torto.se/2DJR7sj @SamanthaJPower "“Overall I would say it’s D, D- for political co-operation on the Covid crisis” – @DMiliband, at the #TortoiseG7BnSummit

Join us live now: torto.se/2DJR7sj

Right now, we’re asking: can the #SDGs help us build back better?

With @DMiliband, @KateGarve and @eddiendopu

Join us live in conversation at the #TortoiseG7bnSummit
torto.se/2DJR7sj “It seems to be with the discourse, we are always catching up with the moment rather than allowing the goals to set the agenda” – @eddiendopu live at the #TortoiseG7bnSummit

We just kicked off our #TortoiseG7bnSummit with a ThinkIn asking: who gets a vaccine?

Throughout today we’re discussing what leaders need to be doing about the big issues we face including: debt, the SDGs, misinformation, food security and much more.
torto.se/2DJR7sj Pascal Soriot, CEO of @AstraZeneca, joined us for the first session of the #TortoiseG7bnSummit and explained the current pause in their vaccine trial.

Register now to join us for the afternoon sessions: torto.se/2FagvI0

Today we journey inside Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, guided by the testimonies of eight of its former detainees. Listen to their remarkable stories: Maryam Zaree was born in Iran’s Evin Prison. A child in a prison of torture and execution.

Many years later, on a bus in Morocco, repressed memories came back to the surface.

torto.se/35cYHHb

Our bumper selection of September ThinkIns is now open for booking.

Here’s a thread previewing some of the conversations we’ll be having with our members and expert guests. Sign up for your seat at the (virtual) table: 2 September: Can the weakness of the West be fixed?

@RJohnMickle, Editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, and Adrian Wooldridge, political editor of @TheEconomist talk about their latest book ‘The Wake Up Call’.

torto.se/34zcPKB

Covid-19 can be the turning point in the fight against disinformation. But leaders need to start taking action.

We’ll be discussing how at the #TortoiseG7bnSummit on global leadership on Thursday 10 September.

torto.se/2DJR7sj For our second session we will ask the question ‘How do we hold misinformation to account?’. In preparation, we’ve been looking at the most common types of COVID misinformation.

torto.se/31fgISV
#TortoiseG7bnSummit

In today’s #Sensemaker, 4 stories that give a sense that winter is coming for a vulnerable Vladimir Putin. From west to east: 1. Alexei Navalny is in a stable condition in Berlin’s Charité hospital after being flown there in an induced coma on Saturday to be treated for suspected poisoning in Siberia.

The tech giants have as much money and influence as nation states.

As today’s Congress hearing into #BigTech gets underway, we look back at our Tech Nations file where we analyse these behemoths as if they were countries as opposed to companies. First up: The United States of Amazon.

torto.se/2XigMzk

The ‘enjoying’ phase, the ‘novelty’ phase and the ‘manic’ phase… @campbellclaret shares various experiences with mental health on lockdown, and we can’t help but reflect on our own too.

How have you been coping during lockdown? “I must say the one thing if I have found things difficult, is not having live sports to watch...I’ve really really missed it.” - @GaryLineker shares what he has struggled with most during lockdown.

We explore #CopingStrategies in our new podcast: torto.se/38Pg8xs

All of us are living through the pandemic, yet our experiences are uniquely different.

@campbellclaret reveals his own troubling journey, with the help of some well-known friends.

torto.se/2W7P1sf “I have a really strong sense inside me, that I am not going to come out of this the same as when I went into it” — @NicolaSturgeon

torto.se/2W7P1sf

On Monday, when asked why care homes deaths had been so high, the prime minister said: "Care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have.”

Is Johnson blaming care homeowners for coronavirus deaths? (2) Covid-19 has exposed urgent problems at the heart of the care sector. Thousands have died and frontline care workers on minimum wage have struggled to cope.

In May, we held a ThinkIn asking who is to blame for the disaster, @ianbirrell shared some thoughts.