Lucas Amin

🎥 BIG MONEY IS CORRUPTING OUR POLITICS 🎥

UK politics has a big money problem 💷

The super-rich use money to buy honours, influence and access to power. It erodes trust in our politics and undermines our democracy.

The UK needs a cap on donations to end big money in our politics.

More below ⤵️

So thrilled about this - such a pleasure to work with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @lucasamin.bsky.social

UK government withholding details of Palantir contract KPMG is being paid £8 million to promote Peter Thiel’s tech in NHS hospitals – but we’re being forced to fight for information about this public contract.

🔴 KPMG being paid £8million to encourage English hospitals to adopt Palantir tech

But government refusing to give us info about KPMG deal

Labour MP and campaigners have decried secrecy and called on gov't to "ditch this dirty company”

New on DfS:
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/uk-governm...

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Palantir's NHS data platform rejected by most hospitals US spy tech firm's £330million software isn't much cop, experts say

"The fact that - on top of everything else - Palantir's NHS offer is just not very good does make one wonder about the source of Wes Streeting's enthusiasm for it. And why the hapless Keir Starmer was dragged along to endorse them by Peter Mandelson." open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

Palantir's NHS data platform rejected by most hospitals US spy tech firm's £330million software isn't much cop, experts say

🔴 Remember the £330million contract given to Trump donor Peter Thiel's firm Palantir to build an NHS data platform?

Well we've found out that most English hospitals aren't using it - because it's not very good

Scoop on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/palantirs-...

Uncovering the secrets of ARIA How an ‘advanced’ scientific body was reduced to claiming environmental information was not ‘environmental information’

NEW

Uncovering the secrets of ARIA

How an ‘advanced’ scientific body was reduced to claiming environmental information was not ‘environmental information’

By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

Lovely piece about how the government sought to misuse FoI law, and how the government was defeated.

Enjoy the story.

Great to see Democracy For Sale validate that ARIA is covered by the environmental information regulations

Democracy for Sale 1, Dominic Cummings 0 We fought to expose the £800m research agency that Cummings built to escape scrutiny - and we won.

Great stuff here from @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @lucasamin.bsky.social and the lengths Tory ministers went to to prevent scrutiny of Cummings's research and innovation project Aria (and how they've been found out). www.aria.org.uk

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Democracy for Sale 1, Dominic Cummings 0 We fought to expose the £800m research agency that Cummings built to escape scrutiny - and we won.

🔴 Remember Aria, the “moonshot" research agency dreamed up by Dominic Cummings?

It's funded by £800m in public money but exempt from FOI laws

We decided to fight for transparency... and we won 🎉

New on Democracy for Sale w/ @lucasamin.bsky.social

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/dominic-cu...

Thames Water chairman accused of conflict of interest over £37m dividend payment Government officials were concerned about ‘conflicted position’ of Sir Adrian Montague before massive shareholder payment, documents show

Thames Water's chair was ­suspected by government officials of ­holding a potentially “conflicted ­position” when his company made an “unjustified” dividend payment of £37.5m to shareholders

Cracking @lucasamin.bsky.social story on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/thames-wat...

Starmer’s top AI advisor did not declare role at Hakluyt AI investment fund Exclusive: Concerns that government’s flagship AI policy “could be directed by vested interests”

SCOOP: Starmer's AI guru was advising Hakluyt's AI investment fund while writing the govt's AI 'action plan' democracyforsale.substack.com/p/starmers-t...

Wessex Water’s Malaysian owners under investigation for corruption

Malaysian anti-corruption investigators have launched probe into YTL Power subsidiary over £700m public contract

New on Democracy for Sale by @petergeoghegan.bsky.social
and me

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-w...

hi @werahobhouse.bsky.social could you follow so I can dm a press query please?

Democracy For Sale A survey into people's attitudes to the health of British politics from leading investigative journalists who write about lobbying and dark money

Worried about #ElonMusk buying his way into UK politics? Think we need to take money out of our democracy?

Help #DemocracyForSale's people-powered plan to #SafeguardDemocracy by taking this short survey: democracyforsale.co.uk/safeguard Please share. Thanks!

Revealed: Government gave £450m in subsidies to sewage-dumping water firm New documents show government handed taxpayer cash to South West Water while the company paid out billions to shareholders and dumped raw sewage into the ocean

🚨SCOOP: UK government spent £450MILLION subsiding bills at one of Britain’s worst performing water companies

While South West Water’s owners paid shareholders £1.5 BILLION+ in dividends and company poured sewage into the sea

New on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-g...

Rob Abrams @sascampaigns.bsky.social told us: “The government would have us believe they've got the water industry over the barrel when this story shows it's entirely the other way round.”

Revealed: Government gave £450m in subsidies to sewage-dumping water firm New documents show government handed taxpayer cash to South West Water while the company paid out billions to shareholders and dumped raw sewage into the ocean

SCCOP: the Government has given £450m in subsidies to a sewage-dumping water firm that paid out billions to shareholders. New on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-g... @petergeoghegan.bsky.social

"goodbye grey skies, hello blue"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6NW...

Here now @direthoughts.com and hello, world :)

Tory minister used official visit to Azerbaijan to promote party donor’s business Exclusive: Foreign office minister Leo Docherty posed on one of Lord Bamford’s JCB diggers in Baku when the company wanted to ‘raise their profile’ in the country.

🚨 SCOOP: Tory foreign minister minister used official visit to Azerbaijan to promote party donor’s business

Leo Docherty used trip to Baku to promote JCB, whose owners the Bamfords have given millions to the Conservatives

New on Democracy for Sale:
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/tory-minis...