Establishment networking, sleaze and corruption. A handy compendium.

[Carvaged]

Come get your Rishi-bucks! Must have links with Tories and offer generous backhanders; bad business ideas with poor prospects not an issue!

Sunak pours taxpayer cash into online betting firm

Campaigners and gambling charities sound the alarm over investments made under Covid support fund

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[brogdale]

Fill yer boots:

Government Releases Private Messages Between Owen Paterson and Matt Hancock Over Randox Contracts – Byline Times

 

[teqniq]

Lobbying on behalf of a foreign government doesn't seem to be particularly in an MP's constituents interests:

Tory MP ‘fed’ propaganda by Azerbaijan

Bob Blackman boasted: ‘On a regular basis I put down positions on behalf of our good friends in Azerbaijan’

www.opendemocracy.net

 

[Badgers]

Shocked

 

[Chilli.s]

I trust we are using those little American billions all the time now and not the British billion that is considerably bigger

 

[Chilli.s]

still corruption though

 

[DaveCinzano]

I trust we are using those little American billions all the time now and not the British billion that is considerably bigger

I refuse to call a milliard anything but

 

[Artaxerxes]

Give me back my £200,000, major donor tells Tories

Controversial telecoms mogul Mohamed Amersi takes on Conservative party over exclusion from elite gatherings and auction prizes never received

www.theguardian.com

 

[Badgers]

 

[teqniq]

Paywall busted article here:

Private schools ‘gamed’ Covid rules to give their pupils more top A-levels

 

[teqniq]

Well there's a thing...

Corruption experts warn over Jacob Rees-Mogg conflicts of interest in new Brexit job

Tory MP is major shareholder in multi-billion pound fund that specialises in emerging markets

www.independent.co.uk

 

[bluescreen]

And here's another thing:

Tories nudge donors into plum state jobs

The Conservative Party is helping donors apply for public roles, with officials offering behind-the-scenes support and directing applicants to a secretive Number 10 unit

www.thetimes.co.uk

archived version sans paywall:

Tories nudge donors into plum state jobs | News | The Sunday Times

archived 13 Feb 2022 00:25:59 UTC

archive.ph

 

[Artaxerxes]

And the tweets thread if you like that sort of thing

 

[two sheds]

Private Eye had a piece on that this last issue. Plus a story on the most recent way (aside from property buyups and LLPs) of hiding laundered Russian money.

 

[teqniq]

More dirt

NEW: Leaked emails reveal Government officials manipulated VIP lane data after NAO investigation - Good Law Project

New leaked emails seen by Good Law Project suggest that senior officials at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Cabinet Office knew that many more PPE suppliers were given the VIP treatment than the 47 names they reported to the National Audit Office (NAO). In November 2020...

goodlawproject.org

 

[gosub]

Matt Hancock failed to comply with equality duty over Dido Harding appointment, court rules

Runnymede Trust wins court battle over key government appointments during coronavirus pandemic

www.theguardian.com

 

[gosub]

No 10 pressured me to drop anti-money laundering measures, says ex-minister

UK ‘laughing stock’ for failure to stem ‘dirty money’, says Lord Faulks QC, who was told to drop register by Theresa May’s No 10

www.theguardian.com

 

[Badgers]

 

[bluescreen]

About time, too

Met investigating cash-for-honours claims linked to Prince’s Foundation

Metropolitan police have launched investigation into allegations linked to Prince Charles charity

www.theguardian.com

 

[Badgers]

Tories nudge donors into plum state jobs

The Conservative Party is helping donors apply for public roles, with officials offering behind-the-scenes support and directing applicants to a secretive Number 10 unit

www.thetimes.co.uk

 

[teqniq]

Thread:

 

[teqniq]

Thread on more corruption:

 

[two sheds]

Here’s (one of the) emails from Shergil copying Jassal to Johnson’s then close aide Munira Mirza offering PPE. "Thank you for your call... We are keen to support the Party."

Corrupt fuckers

 

[Chilli.s]

It's just fraud dressed up

 

[existentialist]

It's just fraud dressed up

And not even particularly well dressed up. Its petticoats are showing, if not in flagrante.

 

[teqniq]

Blimey:

Michelle Mone's home raided by police over multi-million pound PPE fraud probe

The National Crime Agency is investigating deals by PPE Medpro, a company set up by a business associate of Baroness Michelle Mone - the famous lingerie tycoon - whose £11m London home has been raided by police

www.mirror.co.uk

 

[teqniq]

Is there any way they can be forced to release these documents?

Labour says government refusal to publish PPE firm’s contracts ‘reeks of cover-up’

Angela Rayner says dealings with firm linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone need same scrutiny as Owen Paterson’s lobbying for Covid test contracts

www.theguardian.com

 

[existentialist]

Is there any way they can be forced to release these documents?

Labour says government refusal to publish PPE firm’s contracts ‘reeks of cover-up’

Angela Rayner says dealings with firm linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone need same scrutiny as Owen Paterson’s lobbying for Covid test contracts

www.theguardian.com

Jo Maugham seems to be doing a pretty good job of getting the courts to force disclosure, but it does astonish me how we seem to have got way past the tipping point where you'd think the population at large would have been saying "Hang on, this whole thing is fucking BENT, isn't it?". Reminders of my naivety are a pain in the arse

 

[teqniq]

Been a while but this happened today. Not to be overly pessimistic but I suspect that very little will come of it. However I have left room to be pleasantly surprised:

BREAKING: High Court finds Government PPE ‘VIP’ lane for politically connected suppliers ‘unlawful’ - Good Law Project

Over a year of hard work has paid off today. The High Court has ruled that the Government’s operation of a fast-track VIP lane for awarding lucrative PPE contracts to those with political connections was...

goodlawproject.org

 

[teqniq]

The stench of corruption has not gone away, nor the sound of snouts in the trough:

UK health department played ‘fast and loose’ when awarding Covid contracts to Randox

Commons public accounts committee issues damning report into £777m of contracts given to firm that employed Owen Paterson as lobbyist

www.theguardian.com