Corruption
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The Best Defence is a Good Offence
As if they anticipated the court’s decision, the Mail on Sunday published an attack on the Good Law Project’s founder, Jolyon Maugham QC, last weekend. The article includes irrelevant references to Mr Maugham’s killing of a fox in his garden and implies that donations which finance the Good Law Project may not be used as…
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Three Good Apples
The interview board spoke to four applicants for Ofcom chairman and recommended three of the candidates to the Government. Their response is to appoint a new interview board, rather than appoint one of the approved candidates. It had been expected that PM Boris Johnson’s preferred candidate, Paul Dacre, would be appointed in May. The interview…
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Reckless Procurement Revealed in Explosive Court Case
On Tuesday, the same day that the National Audit Office finds that the Government lacked detailed contingency plans for a pandemic, the High Court started hearing a case against Matt Hancock. It is the Good Law Project and EveryDoctor that have challenged the Health Secretary over the Government’s unlawful procurement of PPE contracts. The previous…
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Conservative Coup Could Be Cultural Cleansing
During the last 18 months close allies to the Government have filled seats on boards of public bodies. Peter Riddell, the commissioner for public appointments commented on this in a speech last week. He emphasised that the “breadth of the campaign and close engagement of 10 Downing Street” makes a difference from earlier such trends.…
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UN-Acceptable Racism Report
The Johnson Government has not only been taken to court by the EU for breaking international law, the UN now accuses No 10 of normalising white supremacy. After the Black Lifes Matter protests last year Samuel Kasumu, special adviser for civil society and communities, initiated a report on racism in the UK. The report was…
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From Russia with… love?
Russia still poses an active threat to the UK, according to the Government’s Integrated Review, published in March. Vladimir Putin stated in 2019 that a government’s duty is to create a stable life for its citizens. He went on to say that liberal democracies have failed in providing this stability for people. This was the…
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Money not Sex
At the weekend it was confirmed – what many had long suspected – that there had been an affair between the Prime Minister and Jennifer Arcuri. As sordid and sad as the story may be, with a deceived wife, let-down children and abandoned lovers along the way, their bedroom stories should be their own business…
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For Everybody to See
“The contracts are there on record for everybody to see,” said the Prime Minister. Except for the 100 he’d forgotten about. 19 February 2021The High Court rules that the Health Secretary acted unlawfully by not publishing contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds. 22 February 2021The Prime Minister assured us that all was there to…
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Whitehall of Mirrors
Whitehall in 2021 is like a hall of mirrors, a maze of illusions and broken promises. Revelations, which a few years ago would have caused resignation, are simply shrugged off and brushed into oblivion. Last November the Prime Minister announced he backed the Home Secretary Priti Patel after it had been confirmed she broke the…
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Trashing the Mash
The BBC has decided to discontinue the satire show “The Mash Report” on grounds that it is too left-wing and woke. What the BBC decision makers seem to have overlooked is that the nature of satire is to mock politicians and other people in power. Since the Conservative Party has been in power for more…