Peter Geoghegan

Haha not that long, alas!

Out of office on. See you all in a few weeks!

The case was actually heard in January so it spans both Tory and Labour administrations caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukftt/grc/20...

The case was actually heard in January so it spans both Tory and Labour administrations caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukftt/grc/20...

The case was actually heard in January so it spans both Tory and Labour administrations caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukftt/grc/20...

Ministers tried to block publication of financial interests form The Cabinet Office spent £30,000 on a legal battle to prevent publication of a questionnaire for ministers.

Also think it’s very telling that there is no source for the figure in their story www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The full FOI is on democracy for sale

In this case I shared it as the story directly related to the reporter - who filed the foi - and the bbc as it took the case.

I would see this as pretty standard decent journalism (and decent behaviour full stop.)

Nothing was agreed but I really didn’t expect them to just publish it

Ministers tried to block publication of financial interests form The Cabinet Office spent £30,000 on a legal battle to prevent publication of a questionnaire for ministers.

Indeed! Worth reading the bbc story. There’s no source cited for the £32k figure www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The full foi is on democracy for sale

*Extremely* poor behaviour from the BBC and its reporter here.

Ministers tried to block publication of financial interests form The Cabinet Office spent £30,000 on a legal battle to prevent publication of a questionnaire for ministers.

I know, right!?! Worth reading the BBC piece and noting that there's no source quoted for the 'more than £30,000 figure' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

(The full FOI is published on our site)

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PS: You may have read this story already. The BBC ran a version of it yesterday

We shared our FOI docs with their reporter and press office.
Their response? To publish the story - our story - without even notifying us.

A £6bn public broadcaster selling out a tiny investigative newsletter. Nice. 😔

Lawyer @danneidle.bsky.social who first exposed Zahawi’s tax affairs:

“There seems to be zero legal basis for refusing this FOI. A huge amount of taxpayer money has been wasted because of an obsession with secrecy.”

In all we’ve found £1m spent by govt on legal fees to fight FOI cases

A judge said the government had “overstated” the risks and there was “strong public interest” in understanding how these declarations work.

As @suehawley.bsky.social says ““It is extremely difficult to fathom why the government should want to be so secretive over basic things."

BBC - rightly - appealed to information commissioner.

Who told Cabinet Office - rightly - to release the *blank form*

Cabinet Office still refused. So they ended up at an information tribunal

Government spent £32,251 on legal fees to stop the release of a document with… nothing on it.

After Nadhim Zahawi was sacked for failing to declare a tax investigation, a BBC reporter asked to see the blank ministerial form he should have filled in.

Not his answers. Just the empty form.

The Cabinet Office refused sayings disclosure could harm “the effective conduct of public affairs." 🤯

The blank piece of paper that cost taxpayers £32,000 Government ‘obsession with secrecy’ descends into farce

🚨 New: The UK government spent £32,251 fighting to hide a blank form.

Yep - 30 grand plus to avoid releasing a blank template of the ministerial interests form.

A wild story - with a surprise twist. Would read to end of this one... 🙄 (🧵)

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/why-did-ta...

YouTube video by Democracy for Sale 'The BBC Bottled It' - Alan Rusbridger on Political Influence Over The Media

Really enjoyed this conversation with the peerless @arusbridger.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2RH...

This is going to be a really, really good discussion on Freedom of Information - get along if you can!

Ah yeah I didn’t mean that they’d torn through the top order. Was a fair result, and very dramatic

India thoroughly deserves this. Came out this morning and absolutely tore through England.

Incredibly equally matched. A draw would be a fair result but….

What a gloriously fitting finale to the end of Eng v India. Been a terrific test

Revealed: How foreign billionaires pump millions into British politics The Elon Musk-shaped hole in Starmer’s Election Bill

🔴 NEW: Foreign billionaires are using UK companies to pour millions into British politics — legally.

We found £6m+ in political donations from UK firms owned by foreign nationals — people who can’t vote in Britain.

New on Democracy for Sale (🧵)

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

Yes this is it exactly.

Yep, mention this in the piece. But these aren’t shell companies, they’re trading companies. So currently looks like wouldn’t be covered by the proposals (but of course that might change depending on what exactly proposed legislation looks like)

Labour's election funding reforms: closing loopholes at one door, welcoming foreign influence at another Welcome

Yes and Mark wrote an excellent piece on this very issue recently lordseyeview.substack.com/p/labours-el...

Thanks for sharing the piece!

Thanks - as it says in the piece, it is ‘unlikely’ that these people can vote (and hence donate) but we have taken a very conservative approach, and asked the various people directly if they were registered to vote in the UK or U.K. passport holders.

Revealed: How foreign billionaires pump millions into British politics The Elon Musk-shaped hole in Starmer’s Election Bill

Read the full story from @lucasamin.bsky.social and me on how foreign billionaires are using UK companies to bankroll British politics in Democracy for Sale today.

If you want to help us keep digging, subscribe, too 😀 democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-h...