Laura Phillips

‘A lack of anti-fraud controls in Covid schemes that were set up quickly by ministers in Boris Johnson's government are expected to be highlighted in the report+blamed for the huge figure.Rushed rollouts meant "accepting a high level of fraud risk,without plans for managing or mitigating this risk”’

Covid fraud and error cost taxpayers £10.9bn, report will say A lack of anti-fraud controls in Covid support schemes is expected to be highlighted in the report.

‘ #Covid-19 support programmes cost taxpayers nearly £11bn through #fraud and error, a report will say.
The Covid Counter Fraud Commissioner Tom Hayhoe will say fraudsters exploited a "golden opportunity" when he shares his findings with MPs this week, the BBC understands….’1/

Trumpian Corruption Is Worse Than Ukrainian Corruption The people of Ukraine want an honest government, even as American and Russian kleptocrats circle their country.

The baroque corruption schemes playing out in America and Russia completely outclass the kickback scandal in Ukraine.

www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Tucker Carlson has hosted Hitler apologists on his show. Now he says Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who tried to kill Hitler, was not being Christian. He isn't making a theological argument. He's just morally inverting World War II and the Holocaust, to make space for their villains to rise again.

Trump’s birthday replaces MLK Day as a free National Parks day U.S. residents will be able to enter the parks free of charge on what the Trump administration refers to as “patriotic” days, which will now include Trump’s birthday.

Celebrating the Dear Leader.

‘Without first securing that anchor, any argument about reform risks drifting into
those toxic currents where ministers
sometimes seem to be giving
succour to complaints about the
BBC's allegedly "woke bias".’ 2.

Starmer needs to stop sweating the small stuff and be bold on Europe | The Observer

@tombaldwin66.bsky.social: “The priority now should surely be to assert the principle of an independent and impartial #BBC, explaining clearly why that's worth fighting for in the face of endless attacks from right-wing newspapers, as well as #NigelFarage
and #DonaldTrump.” 1/

Farage denies crypto billionaire wants anything in return for £9m donation to Reform The Reform UK leader promoted the cryptocurrency company which Christopher Harborne holds shares in – one month after receiving a record donation for the party

Electoral Reform Society: “We are seeing an alarming trend of parties receiving larger and larger donations from single super-wealthy donors and the public are rightly asking what these very rich people expect in return for their money."

https://bit.ly/4rAErap

New US Security Strategy aligns with Russia's vision, Moscow says The Kremlin welcomes the starkly worded document, which does not cast Russia as a threat to the US.

‘ #Russia has welcomed #DonaldTrump's new US National #Security #Strategy, calling it "largely consistent" with Moscow's vision.’

Monday's meeting of Starmer, Macron and Merz could turn out to be even more important because of the US national security strategy. They need to decide whether to say in public what they are thinking in private: that the threat is no longer just Putin, it's also Trump

‘If Reform UK is trying to hinder that media, you have to ask why.’

‘What we have in Wales is a chaotic party whose dislike of scrutiny seems only to be surpassed by its members’ dislike of each other. All credible politicians know that the freedom of the media to hold them to account is vital to a functioning democracy.’ 3/

‘“It’s not hard to extrapolate what it would be like if the party were ever to get its hands on the levers of state..If you want to understand a party, look at its actions and not its words.”2/

I don’t care if Reform calls me a bad word on WhatsApp. But the story behind its gaffe is far more worrying | Will Hayward The leaked exchange shows how much the party dislikes scrutiny – which reveals a lot about its approach to governing, says Guardian columnist Will Hayward

@willhaycardiff.bsky.social: ‘one of Farage’s righthand men came up to me and said: “I have never worked with you before, and it will depend on how this goes whether I ever work with you again.” The message seemed clear to me: if you ask hard questions, you won’t get access..’1/

Young people are getting a 'raw deal', and that's good news for the Greens and Reform Frustration among voters under 30 is widespread, writes Laura Kuenssberg.

‘“It's like a guilty secret, the country knows that young people are getting a raw deal but nobody is doing anything about it."
Ministers would deny that claim, but there is an apparent political danger for those who choose not to confront it - perhaps an opportunity for politicians who do.’

“It's all a bit Trumpian. Farage's savage attack on Emma Barnett and the BBC is a tawdry echo of the tactics his friend in the White House deploys against any reporter—particularly, but not only, female reporters—who dare to ask robust questions. The way reporters are supposed to do.”

“It’s a mystery why then, even in the muddled head of Nigel Farage, the BBC should be required to apologise for a piece of 50-year-old satire; or what on earth any of this has to do with a reporter doing their job in questioning a man who sees himself as the next prime minister.” 1/

The rise of deepfake pornography in schools: ‘One girl was so horrified she vomited’ The use of ‘nudify’ apps is becoming more and more prevalent, with hundreds of teachers having seen images created by pupils, often of their peers. The fallout is huge – and growing fast

The rise of deepfake pornography in schools: ‘One girl was so horrified she vomited’ www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

Ironically, Offord was the founder and chair of an Edinburgh-based boutique investment company called "Badenoch and Co"
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Scottish Conservative peer defects to Reform UK Malcolm Offord appeared at a rally alongside Nigel Farage in Falkirk on Saturday to announce the move.

He was the current Scottish Conservative Treasurer, announcing his defection in Falkirk today (BBC)
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Lord Offord has become Reform's first member of the House of Lords. He was Scottish Office minister, becoming a peer after donating £147,500 to the Conservatives, for whom he was an unsuccessful Scottish parliament candidate in 2021. He intends to stand for Reform for Holyrood 2026

#ElonMusk on #X: “The EU should be abolished and sovereignty returned to individual countries, so that governments can better represent their people” All part of the philosophy which @geraldknaus.bsky.social outlines so graphically in his eloquent warning on BBC’s Today programme. Link 👇🏻#BBCSounds

Just a few days left to get involved in the Hunt Family Fund Silent Auction. Some incredible items have been added in the last few days – the auction closes on Dec 11

www.bidaid.com/auction/hff

Musk threatens ‘response’ against individuals who imposed €120M X penalty The tech billionaire blasted “EU woke Stasi commissars” in posts on his social media platform, X.

Elon Musk slammed the EU after it slapped a fine on his social media platform X for violating transparency rules, warning his response would target the top officials behind the penalty.