Establishment networking, sleaze and corruption. A handy compendium.

[teqniq]

I thought it might be an idea to have a thread where people could post links and their thoughts on those who consider themselves our rightful betters and rulers. I think it may be useful to have it all 'under one roof'. Predictably perhaps it will most likely but not soley focus on the vermin. The article below explores in detail Michael Gove and his many contacts. Initially I thought of posting it in The Michael Gove file but it is more far-reaching in exploring his connections and associates than just the man himself:

Michael Gove- The Privileged In Public Service

Michael Gove recently gave the Ditchley Annual Lecture. He opened with a quote from the Marxist intellectual Gramsci and spoke of “The Privilege of Public Service.” Gramsci is famous for his writin…

the-free-press.co.uk

 

[teqniq]

Well nobody else bit but I'll add this to the above, concerning PPE-related corruption being investigated by The Good Law Project:

Thread by @JolyonMaugham on Thread Reader App

Thread by @JolyonMaugham: We need to talk about isolation suits - also known as "coveralls". THREAD Experimental data shows that during the pandemic we have used 533,000 coveralls using the emergency procurement pr...…

threadreaderapp.com

and an all too predictable response from the BBC:

 

[teqniq]

People should do jail time for this, but unfortunately I find it unlikely.:

Exposed: Special procurement channels for 'VIPs' and Cabinet contacts - Good Law Project

Leaked documents seen by Good Law Project set out special pathways by which “VIP” and “Cabinet Office” contacts could be awarded lucrative PPE contracts at the height of the pandemic – and at inflated prices. Lord Bethell, a junior Health Minister, promised that “suppliers will be evaluated by...

goodlawproject.org

 

[two sheds]

Good idea for thread, I think Badgers (others?) gets Good Law Project updates, too. We could update them here.

 

[Badgers]

Good idea for thread, I think Badgers (others?) gets Good Law Project updates, too. We could update them here.

Yes yes yes

 

[Gasmantell]

V. good idea.
Just to show that the Good Law Project can get results

Good Law Project Ltd v HM Revenue and Customs & Anor [2019] EWHC 3125 (Admin) (19 November 2019)

www.bailii.org

This case was begun by GLP in 2017. As you can read in the summary, GLP got a result late last year.
This resulted in Uber having to pay HMRC (i.e. the public purse, i.e. us) the sum of £1.5bn in owed VAT.

You'll hardly be surprised to know (and, if you ever get in a black cab in London again it's worth asking the cabbie who will probably know as his job goes out of the window) that there is a connection between UBER and the Tories.
This is from the Daily Mail (of all places) about links between UBER and the then govt....

Specifically, it would appear to revolve around a woman called Rachel Whetstone.

A 49-year-old PR executive, she worked with Cameron at Carlton, and also with him and Osborne at Conservative HQ in the Nineties. Subsequently, she became an adviser to former party leader Michael Howard. She is also the wife of Steve Hilton, the flip-flop-wearing Downing Street Director of Strategy during the early Cameron years in office.

Being a personal friend of both Cameron and Osborne, she was also godmother of the former PM’s late son, Ivan. She and Hilton even bought a holiday home near the Camerons’ in the Cotswolds.

Why does this matter? Well, after leaving politics in 2005, Whetstone joined Google as its vice-president of global communications. During her stewardship, the tax-dodging web giant enjoyed what critics called ‘revolving door’ access to Cameron’s Downing Street.

Then, in early 2015, it was announced that she was moving to — you guessed it! — Uber.

Her salary is believed to be gargantuan. Pretty soon, the company began to benefit, with top executives granted privileged access to senior government figures.

In 2015 and 2016, Osborne met them twice to discuss ‘the UK economy’ and ‘developments in technology’, according to government records.

 

[Badgers]

There is so much corruption and also outsourcing of public services going on it is hard to find the right threads.

The Good Law Project mentioned above is an excellent source and better for news that political or media sources. There are others and when I get five minutes will post some up.

The sheer scale of it and brazen way it has/is being done and under reported is sickening.

 

[two sheds]

Leaked documents seen by Good Law Project set out special pathways by which “VIP” and “Cabinet Office” contacts could be awarded lucrative PPE contracts at the height of the pandemic – and at inflated

Lord Bethell, a junior Health Minister, promised that “suppliers will be evaluated by Departmental officials on their financial standing.” But there are serious questions over how enormous contracts came to be awarded to dormant or new entities and those of dubious financial standing including:

• Medpro won two contracts worth over £200m to supply PPE to the NHS. The £100 company, set up by the former business associate of Conservative peer Baroness Mone, won the contract just seven weeks after it was set up.
• SG Recruitment UK Limited, a staffing agency, won two PPE contracts worth over £50m, despite auditors raising concerns about its solvency. Tory Peer Lord Chadlington sits on the Board of its parent company, Sumner Group Holdings Limited.
• P14 Medical Limited, controlled by former Conservative Councillor Steve Dechan, who stood down in August this year, was awarded three contracts worth over £276m despite having negative £485,000 in net assets.

The leaked documents disclose that special procurement channels – outside the normal process – were set up for VIPs.

They also show that Cabinet Office was feeding its contacts into the procurement process, outside the normal public

Good Law Project is also aware that successful contractors – like Ayanda which received a £252m contract for supplying facemasks most of which were unusable – were guided through the process by the Cabinet Office. You can read the documents in relation to Ayanda here and here.

Good Law Project understands that most suppliers were operating on 10-20% margin. The leaked documents reveal that Cabinet Office contacts and others were helping ‘VIPs’ sell PPE to Government outside normal procurement channels. The information that Government would buy at 25% above the price paid to ‘regular’ suppliers was a licence to make enormous margins – 35% – 45% – on contracts sometimes worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Although Government has tried to cover up the per unit prices it paid to connected suppliers, we know that Ayanda enjoyed staggering margins above the prices paid to others. So there are certainly questions to be asked about whether other politically connected ‘VIPs’ benefited from lucrative inside information about pricing.

 

[teqniq]

Deleting the evidence:

Rightwing thinktank deletes offer of access to ministers for donors

Adam Smith Institute offered £1,000 donors invites to ‘power lunches and patrons dinners’

www.theguardian.com

One of the UK’s most influential rightwing thinktanks has deleted passages from its website promising access to government ministers in exchange for donations after the Guardian began making inquiries about its funding.....

Doesn't mean money for access is no longer available. Just not advertised anymore.

e2a from 2018

 

[teqniq]

More on think tanks:

Dark money think tank’s own advisor accuses it of ‘hiding’ behind charity law to lobby

‘Disillusioned’ Institute of Economic Affairs advisor criticises hard Brexit think tank – while new documents show it privately benefited from furlough scheme it publicly attacked.

www.opendemocracy.net

 

[Badgers]

Link from the BMJ

Covid-19: Leaked documents suggest that VIPs and government contacts won PPE deals after special treatment

Documents leaked to the Good Law Project appear to show special pathways through which “VIPs” and Cabinet Office contacts were able to win contracts to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. The non-profit organisation, along with the campaign group...

www.bmj.com

 

[teqniq]

 

[Pickman's model]

I hope lampposts have been supplied by reputable contractors because it would be a pain if they collapse when the weight of a corrupt toff is suspended from them

 

[teqniq]

Thread by @Gabriel_Pogrund on Thread Reader App

Thread by @Gabriel_Pogrund: EXC: The chair of the UK's vaccine task force showed “official sensitive” government documents to a $200-a-head event for elite US venture capitalists last week Kate Bingham, a Boris Joh...…

threadreaderapp.com

 

[two sheds]

EXC: The chair of the UK's vaccine task force showed “official sensitive” government documents to a $200-a-head event for elite US venture capitalists last week

Kate Bingham, a Boris Johnson appointee, showed guests a list of products which the government is set to invest in

Good investment for $200

 

[teqniq]

Good Law Project bringing an action against Johnson and Hancock over appointments wrt test and trace:

Hi Teqniq

In August, the Conservative Peer Dido Harding was appointed as Head of the National Institute for Health Protection. The wife of a Conservative MP and friend of former Prime Minister David Cameron, Dido Harding didn’t pip other candidates to the post at the interview. There weren’t any other candidates. She was just handed the job.

She’s not the only one to land a top job this way. Each week it seems another individual secures a role of vital public importance without any advertisement or fair process - and very often that individual has personal and political connections to Government.

Our public bodies perform vital functions. Effective Test and Trace is absolutely key to tackling the pandemic. And we need to have those bodies run by people who are the best placed to do the job at hand, who were recruited through open competition and appointed because of what they know, not who they know.

Appointing your mates to top jobs isn’t new or the preserve of the Conservative Party: we all remember “Tony’s Cronies” too. But it’s high time we put a stop to it. That’s why, along with the Runnymede Trust, Good Law Project is challenging the appointment of Dido Harding, as well as a string of other appointments which were made with seemingly no advertisement or fair recruitment process. You can see our Pre Action Protocol letter here.

This Government's approach discriminates against those born without a silver spoon in their mouth. It’s unfair to those who don’t rub shoulders with high-ranking Ministers. And it’s unfair to groups who the data shows are shut out of public life. We intend to change it.

Thank you,

Jolyon Maugham QC
Director of Good Law Project

this is getting coverage in the Mirror:

Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock 'could face court' over test and trace shambles

The PM faces questions over making Tory peer Dido Harding, who is head of the programme, boss of the new National Institute of Health Protection

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[two sheds]

In August, the Conservative Peer Dido Harding was appointed as Head of the National Institute for Health Protection. The wife of a Conservative MP and friend of former Prime Minister David Cameron, Dido Harding didn’t pip other candidates to the post at the interview. There weren’t any other candidates. She was just handed the job.

She’s not the only one to land a top job this way. Each week it seems another individual secures a role of vital public importance without any advertisement or fair process - and very often that individual has personal and political connections to Government.

Our public bodies perform vital functions. Effective Test and Trace is absolutely key to tackling the pandemic. And we need to have those bodies run by people who are the best placed to do the job at hand, who were recruited through open competition and appointed because of what they know, not who they know.

Appointing your mates to top jobs isn’t new or the preserve of the Conservative Party: we all remember “Tony’s Cronies” too. But it’s high time we put a stop to it. That’s why, along with the Runnymede Trust, Good Law Project is challenging the appointment of Dido Harding, as well as a string of other appointments which were made with seemingly no advertisement or fair recruitment process. You can see our Pre Action Protocol letter. If you are in a position to do so, you can donate to the crowdfunded legal challenge.

This Government's approach discriminates against those born without a silver spoon in their mouth. It’s unfair to those who don’t rub shoulders with high-ranking Ministers. And it’s unfair to groups who the data shows are shut out of public life. We intend to change it.


Thank you,


Jolyon Maugham QC
Director of Good Law Project

 

[Badgers]

Beat me to it

 

[two sheds]

I knew the clock was ticking

your turn next time

 

[teqniq]

Nothing to see here, move along....

£45m deal for NHS masks collapses amid fraud claims

Exclusive: millions of respirators missing as medical company sues its supplier in US

www.theguardian.com

Millions of medical masks purchased by the British government for £45m are missing after a major PPE deal collapsed amid accusations of fraud, the Guardian can reveal.

The Department of Health and Social Care paid its supplier Purple Surgical upfront for 5m FFP3 respirator masks, which were supposed to have been flown into Birmingham international airport by June.

But Purple Surgical, a Hertfordshire-based company that has signed deals worth almost £250m with the DHSC since the pandemic began, has been unable to supply the masks.

Purple Surgical has filed papers in California alleging fraud by its own supplier, a company in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).....

 

[teqniq]

Thread here with more backgrond:

 

[Sasaferrato]

I was going to ask whether anyone believes that this sort of shit wasn't happening under Labour, but then, we haven't had a Labour government for a while.

The evidence is no doubt still there if anyone cares to dig deeply enough. Blair's colossal enrichment post his period in office has never really been explained. Payment for favours done seems the most likely scenario.

 

[teqniq]

Well yes of course. Iraq being the main thing there.

 

[Pickman's model]

I was going to ask whether anyone believes that this sort of shit wasn't happening under Labour, but then, we haven't had a Labour government for a while.

The evidence is no doubt still there if anyone cares to dig deeply enough. Blair's colossal enrichment post his period in office has never really been explained. Payment for favours done seems the most likely scenario.

thisismoney 2010 How rich is Tony Blair?
telegraph 2015 Revealed: Tony Blair worth a staggering £60m
guardian 2016 Tony Blair has turned profiting from others’ misery into an art form
mail 2019 Tony Blair builds a £35million property empire

 

[teqniq]

More blatant cronyism:

Tory-linked firm involved in testing failure given new £347m Covid contract

Exclusive: Hancock has backed transfer of nearly £500m to Randox during pandemic

www.theguardian.com

 

[planetgeli]

More blatant cronyism:

Tory-linked firm involved in testing failure given new £347m Covid contract

Exclusive: Hancock has backed transfer of nearly £500m to Randox during pandemic

www.theguardian.com

Supine post over in the corona thread belongs with this.

Randox has been given a further £346.5m contract


from Department for Health for Covid testing, a programme headed by Dido Harding. And Aintree Racecourse, owned by the Jockey Club which Dido Harding sits on the Board of, has also received sponsorship money from Randox.

 

[Pickman's model]

Badgers how can we get our hands on some of this largesse?

 

[teqniq]

Supine post over in the corona thread belongs with this.

Hancock has connections to the Jockey Club as well:

Horse racing, Tory donations and a swift return from lockdown

Matt Hancock called the sport ‘wonderful’. He was funded by some of its leading figures

www.theguardian.com

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

More blatant cronyism:

Tory-linked firm involved in testing failure given new £347m Covid contract

Exclusive: Hancock has backed transfer of nearly £500m to Randox during pandemic

www.theguardian.com

Calls for an independent enquiry?

Fucking criminal enquiry is what is needed. This isn’t just snouts in troughs, it’s blatant corruption, the upshot of which is more people dying from Covid.

 

[nogojones]

I hope lampposts have been supplied by reputable contractors because it would be a pain if they collapse when the weight of a corrupt toff is suspended from them

You'll be sorry to hear then, that the ones round here seem to come from Serco