🎉 🥳 #UNCAC #CoSP11 adopted resolution on political finance transparency, making it the first-ever set of principles agreed at UN-level to promote accountability in funding of political parties and campaigns. Congrats, Norway, Albania, Ghana, Mongolia @anticorruption.bsky.social @ifes.bsky.social!

🚨BREAKING: The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal dismisses the case against Carter-Ruck's Claire Gill, in a shock decision that could give the green light for lawyers to continue to push the boundaries of what constitutes abusive litigation. #SLAPPs

@duncanhames.bsky.social of Transparency International has called for an investigation into this "cash for access operation" As @suehawley.bsky.social says “It should not have to take undercover reporting to lift the lid on murky secretive access.”

As @suehawley.bsky.social says: “These kinds of rampant conflicts of interests in the House of Lords undermine public confidence." @rosewhiff.bsky.social is right - “Shadow ministers [are] positioned to influence policy while benefiting financially from the very sectors they scrutinise.”

🚨 1 in 3 law firms are not compliant with anti-money laundering rules. 📈 But, the government has recently taken steps to address this issue. 💷 If implemented correctly, this move could be transformational for the UK's dirty money problem. Learn more: ukanticorruptioncoalition.org/work/release...

Is democracy for sale? 💸 Join Jeff Clements, @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @suehawley.bsky.social on 30 October @jesuscollegecam.bsky.social to discuss the role money plays in US and UK politics and ongoing efforts to curb corruption. Reserve a free ticket: buytickets.at/intellectual...

Go get your @privateeyenews.bsky.social folks and buckle up for another incredible report by @rbrooks45.bsky.social on the Teeside development - a tale of insane #cronyism and #profiteering at taxpayer expense. @csc-barrington.bsky.social @ethicsandintegrity.bsky.social

The government’s progress on ethical standards remains underwhelming. Any tightening is to be welcomed, but the idea that ministers “are expected”to repay severance if they break the rules simply underlines the absence of an enforceable legal duty

How big an impact will “minor reorganisation “ of UK ethics regulation bodies and the creation of advisory ethics commission with no enforcement powers have? Key question from @peterwalker99.bsky.social Our evidence to Parliament warns real risk of not much. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Exc: The Electoral Commission has been given early notice of the UK's first ever crypto donation The has been "made, but not declared", to a party understood to be Reform Reform spox said: "All donations above the reporting limit will be disclosed in the usual way" share.google/VvtjBjEjEjRa...

The donation is seen as a potential "watershed moment" in political funding. @suehawley.bsky.social of @spotlightcorruption.org warned that neither parties nor the EC have the expertise to prevent anonymous donations, leaving the UK "extremely vulnerable" to hostile states and organised crime

These look like very questionable tactics from Carter Ruck solicitor to discredit police officer investigating a client for major fraud. Real questions as to why SRA is not investigating them as breach of lawyers code of conduct www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

🚨 BREAKING: UKACC has arrived at the Labour Party conference, and the new chair of the @appgonacrt.bsky.social, @philbrickellmp.bsky.social is ready to get to work. Come and find us at our events across Liverpool: ukanticorruptioncoalition.org/labour

This is big and a really good piece of policing and prosecutorial work - bribes to help foreign states get a more favourable hearing in parliaments and with the public should never have a place in the UK or Europe.

'Probably the biggest misspending scandal in the UK of all time' - ITV's rigorous & powerful film 'The Covid Contracts, Follow the Money' is a must-watch. Pleased to contribute to this film for @transparencyuk.bsky.social alongside @suehawley.bsky.social & many others. www.itv.com/watch/the-co...

Explosive insights about Carter-Ruck's tactics to shut down scrutiny of OneCoin's $3 billion crypto fraud after our work with @danneidle.bsky.social @tbij.bsky.social @fpcthinktank.bsky.social including attempts to get an FCA warning notice taken down: www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

Very much looking forward to this debate in Brighton and hoping the audience will come up with lots of ideas for how to solve the UK's political integrity challenges.

LABOUR: UKACC x @thefabians.bsky.social : Brave New World? Fighting Corruption in the New Trump Era. Featuring @margarethodge.bsky.social, @philbrickellmp.bsky.social, @liambyrnemp.bsky.social, and @suehawley.bsky.social.

LABOUR: @transparencyuk.bsky.social x @spotlightcorruption.org x @moreincommonuk.bsky.social: Who Pays, Who Decides? Big Money in British Politics. John Johnson, @margarethodge.bsky.social, @liambyrnemp.bsky.social, @duncanhames.bsky.social, @suehawley.bsky.social, and @edhodgsoned.bsky.social.

This is actually really big and very welcome. Unannounced amidst yesterday’s Hillsborough Law are new provisions to upgrade the UK’s archaic misconduct in public office offence. Big win for @spotlightcorruption.org. Here’s our analysis @bricksilk.bsky.social @csc-barrington.bsky.social

The revolving door in the defence sector has always been exceptionally high risk and now @lucasamin.bsky.social has hunted down the latest figures on the scale of it. The government’s proposed new approach to policing the revolving door so far raises more questions than answers.

👇 Alarming report from @josiah.writes.news on the lack of transparency about the government’s Defending Democracy Taskforce and declining staff levels. Last week in parliament we called for the DDT to report regularly to parliament on foreign interference in our democratic processes.

✍️ Great piece by @lucasamin.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale highlighting the 'revolving door' between the 🪖 Ministry of Defence and the 💥 arms companies that compete for its business ➡️ democracyforsale.substack.com/p/palantir-a... Here's @suehawley.bsky.social's full quote 👇:

👏 Really welcome to see new lobbying registrar Claire Bassett talk about 'levelling the playing field' when it comes to lobbying. 💪 She also told the @houseofcommons.parliament.uk PACAC Committee that she is not afraid to challenge the government or to be unpopular.

Really enjoyed chatting cleaning up politics with @politicshome.bsky.social along with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social, @danieljbruce.bsky.social and Lloyd Hatton MP. Lots to do still...

🎙️ How can we clean up politics? Our Executive Director @suehawley.bsky.social joined @alaintolhurst.bsky.social, host of @politicshome.bsky.social’s podcast The Rundown, alongside Lloyd Hatton MP, @danieljbruce.bsky.social & @petergeoghegan.bsky.social to discuss potential answers.

NEW: Earlier this year the FT launched an investigation into UK City Minister Tulip Siddiq’s links to alleged embezzlement in Bangladesh. Our investigation contributed to her resignation, but also invited us to take a deeper look at the alleged looting of billions of dollars. on.ft.com/4pjqCMi

How should the UK tackle #crypto donations, foreign interference and big donations? Great to give evidence to parliament earlier this week with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and CryptoUK, on what the risks are and what needs to be done.

Working with allies on tackling corruption and money laundering was a manifesto commitment from the government. Last week's reshuffle must not derail the important progress made on this. That's why we wrote to the new Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister to urge that momentum be maintained.

⏱️ Less than one week to go to apply for our Senior Philanthropy and Partnership Manager role! 🔍 We are looking for someone with a real flair for networking and a super track record of bringing in funds for charitable causes. 👇 See job description below and apply at CharityJob before Sunday night.

Know any creative and innovative fundraisers? We're looking for someone with flair and a passion for fighting corruption to join our team - last week to apply!

Very excited to have @timpicton.bsky.social join us to be our new Senior Advocacy Advisor, bringing an amazing background in campaigning, digging and networking.

Very pleased to have joined @spotlightcorruption.org this week as the senior policy and campaign lead for their Defending Democracy programme!

🚨 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...

Much of the investment and treating (read hospitality) culture in the UK is definitively out of bounds and if I was to accept anything (it is offered regulalrly) I would be subject to significant disciplinary action. /end

I work for the Norwegian Government and this is my ethical guidance document. You won't find anything like this is the UK MOD (or other departments for that matter). /1 www.regjeringen.no/globalassets...

Really important investigation by @stefanboscia.bsky.social - @duncanhames.bsky.social is right about very serious questions here around conflicts of interest. The Elections Bill is a key opportunity to break the link between political donations and public contracts.

Really enjoyed chatting to the amazing @petergeoghegan.bsky.social about how corrupt Britain is and what the opportunities are for tackling the risks, including the upcoming Elections Bill. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/just-how-c...

Good to see @ukparliament.parliament.uk's Public Affairs Committee call for an independent review of whether the @electoralcommission.org.uk has robust enough powers: committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Last week the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights produced its report on the UK's 2024 election with a specific section on campaign finance. And made a series of weighty recommendations along the lines that others have recommended for years🧵 www.osce.org/files/f/docu...

Crazy story that has flown under the radar of UK press about some dodgy property dealings of current Lady Mayoress of Leeds… with links so a Nigerian senator and a suspected money launderer who was subject to a McMafia order

🚨Extraordinary story about an NCA property forfeiture of a £1 million house owned by the current Lord Mayoress of Leeds bought from Mansoor Hussain - a property developer in Leeds accused by the NCA of having links to serious criminals and of money laundering🧵 www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlin...

Huge thanks to @justinlmoore.bsky.social for running for @spotlightcorruption.org

🏃Meanwhile Deputy Director Helen Taylor ran the half-marathon, so the Spotlight team stopped for a quick photo along the banks of the Thames:

🏆 Congratulations to our Spotlight associate @justinlmoore.bsky.social who not only finished his first marathon under his personal target time, but also smashed his £500 fundraising target to support our work at Spotlight!

Big tech’s capture of Labour’s AI agenda is the next big lobbying scandal waiting to happen in the UK. As ever @lucasamin.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social are on it … Labour needs to get serious about developing an equity in access to ministers and greater citizen participation

Futureproofing the Electoral Commission by beefing up its independence (as well as its powers) is crucial for the future of our democracy. Today we publish a piece by Professor Alistair Clarke on how to @conunitucl.bsky.social @joepowell.bsky.social @alexsobel.co.uk @transparencyuk.bsky.social

⚖️ This week we joined our academic, civil society and media colleagues from the Courts and Tribunals Observers Network for a workshop with policymakers and legal sector stakeholders to explore the practical challenges and opportunities for improving #OpenJustice:

📽️This week we brought together the @appgfairelections.bsky.social and @appgfairelections.bsky.social with @lisasmartmp.bsky.social, @catneilan.bsky.social and Baroness Hodge to discuss the how we can stopping US-style oligarchy in the UK through political finance reform. See what they had to say ⤵️

National defence must include our elections - as @edwardlucas.bsky.social argues those who want to damage our democracy are as likely to use electoral interference as bombs. An ambitious Elections Bill must urgently close the gaping loopholes in our defences. www.thetimes.com/article/e280...