Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, has sold a £4.2 million Belgravia townhouse she bought three years ago, The Times can reveal. The sale has emerged as she has faced renewed scrutiny over her links to Jeffery Epstein. www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-fam...

Natis, the unit asked to investigate more than £1 billion of suspected fraud on taxpayer-backed bounce back loans, recovered just £7.2 million, the government has now admitted. www.thetimes.com/article/e2ab...

A solar power client of the lobbying firm employing Angela Rayner’s partner Sam Tarry has been lauded by Sir Keir Starmer and green-lit for major projects, The Times can reveal. With @tomwitherow.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Another doozy. Five years to respond to an FOI!

My partner made this sign to support me in the Big Half today and I think she might be the one. Run [REDACTED] run!

My partner made this sign to support me in the Big Half today and I think she might be the one. Run [REDACTED] run!

A client of the lobbyist that employs Angela Rayner’s partner, ex-MP Sam Tarry, secured two meetings with ministers in her department this year. Great South West employs Henham Strategy as its lobbyist, where Tarry works as an adviser. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

I spoke to @katemansey.bsky.social this week on The Royals podcast about just how tough it is to get hold of information about how “The Firm” operates and how it interacts with government. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p...

At least 50 members of the House of Lords have worked for lobbying firms since January last year despite MPs being banned from paid advisory roles, a Times investigation has found. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Labour ‘leaving public in the dark’ about payments from lobbyists. Leaked email shows lobbyists were told the public would not need to be informed about certain payments. www.thetimes.com/article/f59b...

Great reporting by the BBC who managed to wrangle out of the government a copy of the ministerial interests form, which the Cabinet Office resisted at tribunal at a cost of more that £30,000 to taxpayers. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Labour ‘leaving public in the dark’ about payments from lobbyists. Leaked email shows lobbyists were told the public would not need to be informed about certain payments. www.thetimes.com/article/f59b...

At least 50 members of the House of Lords have worked for lobbying firms since January last year despite MPs being banned from paid advisory roles, a Times investigation has found. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

The Labour government faces questions over “cash for access” after a Times investigation found that businesses have been offered private meetings with “an influential Labour figure” as part of sponsorship packages costing almost £9,500. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

The Labour government faces questions over “cash for access” after a Times investigation found that businesses have been offered private meetings with “an influential Labour figure” as part of sponsorship packages costing almost £9,500. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

‪Taxpayers appear to have funded player salaries at a top-flight football club on the grounds they were working on cutting-edge research. HMRC demanded repayment from Dundee United last year after it claimed £1.27 million under the R&D tax credit scheme. www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

‪Taxpayers appear to have funded player salaries at a top-flight football club on the grounds they were working on cutting-edge research. HMRC demanded repayment from Dundee United last year after it claimed £1.27 million under the R&D tax credit scheme. www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

I've also written about this case on Relight My FOIA, and what it means for the ICO's wider approach to FOI enforcement. relightmyfoia.blog/2025/07/24/f...

The government has been issued with an unprecedented formal rebuke by transparency watchdog the ICO for wrongly interfering to block a freedom of information request from The Times about Suella Braverman's private email use. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

The government has been issued with an unprecedented formal rebuke by transparency watchdog the ICO for wrongly interfering to block a freedom of information request from The Times about Suella Braverman's private email use. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

My latest blog on Relight My FOIA. How one email from Dominic Cummings highlights a massive loophole in trasparency law. relightmyfoia.blog/2025/07/06/t...

My latest blog on Relight My FOIA. How one email from Dominic Cummings highlights a massive loophole in trasparency law. relightmyfoia.blog/2025/07/06/t...

Hundreds of pandemic fraud cases are at risk of collapsing because the investigating officials were gathering evidence without the legal right to do so. An FOI shows officials at Thurrock Council based Natis were not correctly certified to do this work. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Hundreds of pandemic fraud cases are at risk of collapsing because the investigating officials were gathering evidence without the legal right to do so. An FOI shows officials at Thurrock Council based Natis were not correctly certified to do this work. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Thirty-three professional football clubs are being investigated by HMRC amid claims that they exploited a tax scheme to wrongly claim more than £17 million in public money, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

Thirty-three professional football clubs are being investigated by HMRC amid claims that they exploited a tax scheme to wrongly claim more than £17 million in public money, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/sport/footba...

I’m very to honoured to have won data journalist of the year at this year’s Press Awards, for my work on Dubai Uncovered, exposing KFC’s lobbying against child obesity policies, and revealing the extent of Suella Braverman’s private email usage in government.

Today's must-read, featuring incredible reporting by @jasonleopold.bsky.social. His story is wild—and scary as all get-out, if you care about the security of data at just about every federal agency. Then, as a companion piece, read Jason's new FOIA Files, which turns the craziness up to 11.

The government will scrap its coronavirus fraud recovery unit Natis after The Times exposed its failures to recover taxpayer cash and raised questions over its governance. The unit secured just 14 prosecutions amid endemic abuse of the £47bn bounce back scheme. www.thetimes.com/article/2bb3...

The government will scrap its coronavirus fraud recovery unit Natis after The Times exposed its failures to recover taxpayer cash and raised questions over its governance. The unit secured just 14 prosecutions amid endemic abuse of the £47bn bounce back scheme. www.thetimes.com/article/2bb3...

Delighted to see Dubai Unlocked shortlisted for the Sigma Awards 2025! gijn.org/stories/sigm... Our reporting exposed how UK criminals were able to invest millions in Dubai, including a money launderer who bought two luxury Dubai apartments from his prison cell.

British academia has continued to pursue partnerships with Chinese defence universities despite MI5 warnings over espionage risks from hostile states, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/article/915d...

British academia has continued to pursue partnerships with Chinese defence universities despite MI5 warnings over espionage risks from hostile states, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/article/915d...

A convicted stalker offended again after waiting months for a tag, amid delays in fitting tags by the electronic monitoring service managed by Serco. www.thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...

Prince Andrew embroils King in Chinese ‘spy’ scandal www.thetimes.com/article/34c0...

Several average earner annual tax payments spent on resisting the release of something which was clearly in the public interest to disclose…

The Cabinet Office has failed in its legal bin to block the transparency regulator from even seeing ministerial register of interest forms in relation to an FOI appeal. But it has succeeded in delaying the process by months. My latest blog on the power of delay. relightmyfoia.blog/2025/03/13/t...

Lord Hermer accused of blocking Russian asset seizures for Ukraine www.thetimes.com/article/8306...

Lord Hermer accused of blocking Russian asset seizures for Ukraine www.thetimes.com/article/8306...

I'll be speaking later this evening at the Royal United Services Institute on investigating and reporting on financial crime as a news reporter. my.rusi.org/events/on-th...

HMRC was aware a key tax credit was being widely defrauded as early as 2017, but had done little to fix it, The Times can reveal. It fought a legal battle for over a year to avoid disclosing this fact. Taxpayers have lost at least £4.1bn since 2020 to R&D claims. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

HMRC was aware a key tax credit was being widely defrauded as early as 2017, but had done little to fix it, The Times can reveal. It fought a legal battle for over a year to avoid disclosing this fact. Taxpayers have lost at least £4.1bn since 2020 to R&D claims. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Well well. It now emerges that Dundee have been asked by HMRC to repay the tax credits! The club are disputing this.

Premier League football teams have claimed millions in public money using a tax scheme designed to support innovations for the public good in science and technology, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...

🔺 EXCLUSIVE: Premier League football teams have claimed millions in public money using a tax scheme designed to support innovations for the public good in science and technology

Premier League football teams have claimed millions in public money using a tax scheme designed to support innovations for the public good in science and technology, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/uk/society/a...

The £8 billion Middle East investment fund connected to the Duke of York has ties to his top aide. Company records show Dominic Hampshire also owns five Bahraini companies which share the name of the planned fund, Waterberg Stirling, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-fam...

The £8 billion Middle East investment fund connected to the Duke of York has ties to his top aide. Company records show Dominic Hampshire also owns five Bahraini companies which share the name of the planned fund, Waterberg Stirling, The Times can reveal. www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-fam...

I'm delighted to be shortlisted for data journalist of the year at this year's Press Awards, for my work on investigating UK criminals investing in Dubai property, how KFC campaigned against council child obesity plans, and for my FOI victories in the courts! www.thepressawards.com/finalists/ge...

Brotherly love: How the Foreign Office spent months trying to redact a simple term of endearment between David Cameron and Boris Johnson. relightmyfoia.blog/2025/02/10/b...