Re last RT: making the ombudsman a good tool for systematic investigation (with good links to casework, but not an MP filter) - would be a good idea www.mysociety.org/2024/12/04/t...

It’s been a remarkable few weeks and this morning we’ve just hit 300 pledges 👏🏼 We wanted to share some of the messages we’ve received along the way. They’ve meant a huge amount.

Ok, so a few things to flag this week on foreign trips and freebies:

More on our open letter collection www.mysociety.org/2025/10/21/s...

“Freedom of information only works if you can find it” So why don’t gov depts proactively publish it? Then they won’t need to respond to requests. #FOIFest

The afternoon session of #FOIFest kicks off with the Scottish Information Commissioner 👇

Top tips - explain why you want the info. Don’t be afraid to show your credentials. As George said, keep a good spreadsheet. #FOIFest

Number 1 - don’t be afraid to appeal if you think you’re onto something. The system is there to use. Number 2 - play the long game. Focus requests on something that will still be a story in 12-18 months. #FOIFest

"Corruption prospers when there's an information asymmetry" @rosewhiff.bsky.social #FOIFest

Now @rosewhiff.bsky.social from @anticorruption.bsky.social explaining her aspect is broader, how #FOI fits into an anti corruption toolbox. FOI has shifted public expectations around transparency and built momentum to better govt transparency. #FOIFest

Maurice Frankel talking about the significance of the FOI Act coming into fruition 21 years ago And amusing anecdotes about the resistance of some in government back then to new resultant powers #FOIFest

We’re all ready for #FOIFest! Stay tuned for conference photos and highlights ✨

It's #FOIFest day! I'm out front wearing bright green, you can't miss me!

This is an absolutely fascinating article. Itching for there to be deep analysis across MPs case loads. So much that could be learned for improving public services. @alexparsons.bsky.social nails it when talking about failure demand.

Good overview of the workload on staff and MPs, and what the role of the MP is/could/should be. I prioritise dealing with casework quickly over replying to policy emails because e.g. helping a person access disability support is more important to me... 1/?

To expand a bit on the fragmented ombudsman point here - I think this is an area where "MPs shouldn't be doing casework" and "actually this is a key part of their role" imply pretty much the same practical steps.

“It should not take a US federal investigation into a convicted sex offender to reveal how UK government policy is being shaped behind closed doors.” Read more in my opinion piece for @transparencyuk.bsky.social about the Mandelson/Epstein emails www.transparency.org.uk/news/mandels...

☀️ today is the first day of 10 hours daylight in leeds and it's only 4 weeks until 12 hours of daylight!! ☀️

We've un-postponed (counter-countermanded?) these elections in our system and will be covering them as usual.

We’re launching a new independent newspaper for Leeds - funded by readers. If you want better local journalism in Leeds, this is how it starts. 👉 Pledge your support: leeds.ghost.io

Happy FOI Fest week! Come and join us this Thursday, 19 February, at Birkbeck College, London and online, as we think about what freedom of information has achieved to date, where it goes next, and benefit from lightning talks and skills shares pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...

Lovely shoutout to our election leaflets database from Prof. Rob! You can upload leaflets yourself at: electionleaflets.org

Fascinating- under current rules, all ministers' meetings should be registered. And all consultant lobbyists, like Global Counsel, have to register with the official Registrar and declare all instances of lobbying ministers and perm secs. So is this acceptance that the current schemes don't work?

This is obviously better than nothing, but is not a "very low" threshold! www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

New @mysociety.org report out today!

We've created all the May 2026 elections in our system. 4,357 English councillors are scheduled for election, across 107 councils. This is in addition to six local authority mayors and the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. Find out if you have an election at whocanivotefor.co.uk

Great new feature on FixMyStreet!

Given the main parliamentary rule about what you can and can't do is "you have to write it down", just a really low bar not being met here.

My quote in this important article:

Just under a month away! Join @mysociety.org and others (in London and online) for FOI FEST 2026 Keynotes, discussions, lightning talks, skills tasters Thursday 19 February Sign up here: pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...

Happy to contribute my real life to the discourse about student loans being a scam 🙃 Last year I paid ~5% of my income (£2.1k) towards my student loans 🙃 That didn't even cover the interest 🙃 My total debt still went up by £700 🙃 Debt that everyone agrees I will never pay off 🙃

Yes the combination of "don't publish nil returns" and "don't publish names *with* interests" seems odd. In the march version only about 20% of entries had interests.

In which @mysociety.org reveal the absolute guddle that underpins UK political donation declarations. It could be so much more straightforward. research.mysociety.org/html/leaky-p...

New report: Leaky Pipes - what we learned about where candidate donation data comes from research.mysociety.org/html/leaky-p...

This is tomorrow - still time to register! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mysociety-...

We've been looking into money in politics for a while now. Come along next week to hear about what we found out about the donations system, why it's, er, not great, and how we can fix it!

No strong comment on this, but one I haven't seen before. Easyjet paying for christmas card postage for Luton MP.

A new House of Commons register of interests has been released and uploaded to TheyWorkForYou https://www.theyworkforyou.com/interests

Really interesting from Martin. And do you know what else will be interesting if you're into freedom of information? FOI Fest! Thursday 19 February, London/online, free, sign up now pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...

If you know me you know I am a sunlight obsessive and @dracos.co.uk made my year this year by making this!! dracos.co.uk/made/sunligh...

The Covid Inquiry revealed that there were ‘substantive discussions’ of important policy decisions via texts. Frequent use of WhatsApp undermines transparency, and decreases the quality of decisions. By @benworthy.bsky.social & @mrosenbaum.bsky.social

New House of Commons Library briefing on political financing: donations loans and state funding commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...

Hosting this nice event in an hour if you want to hear some good news stories while you eat your lunch! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1977360852...

Morning! Here's something exciting we've been working on: WriteToThem Insights www.mysociety.org/2025/12/11/n...

For @thefabians.bsky.social , @juliacushion.bsky.social and I wrote about improving parliamentary data/standards around MPs financial interests: fabians.org.uk/beyond-trans...

We're trying something new today! From 1pm we'll be answering questions over on reddit, but you can add your questions in ahead of time! www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics...

Ahead of todays’s launch of the UKs Anti Corruption Strategy, watch below to hear why corruption is not some far away problem, but has a corrosive influence on all of our daily lives. And do give the UKACC page a follow to keep up date of all the brill work CSOs in the sector are doing.

Know a journalist with a powerful idea for a story that would lead to social change? Tell them they have one month left to apply for a Tenacious Journalist Award of £10k! 💪 More details: www.tenaciousawards.org/about-the-jo... #journalism ✒️ 📲 📷 🗞️

Another day, another panel that I felt very lucky to be on! Today I was talking about a different kind of devolution - mayors and combined / strategic authorities. Thanks for all the great questions, check out our recent report: www.mysociety.org/2025/11/18/m...

Idk how Rachel is finding it but I had a great time!