🎥 BIG MONEY IS CORRUPTING OUR POLITICS 🎥 UK politics has a big money problem 💷 The super-rich use money to buy honours, influence and access to power. It erodes trust in our politics and undermines our democracy. The UK needs a cap on donations to end big money in our politics. More below ⤵️

“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...

💥"Nothing less than a century-defining rebalancing of power and accountability is equal to this moment and the trauma of the victims." A significant intervention from former PM Gordon Brown on why the Epstein-Mandelson revelations demand a fundamental cleaning up of UK politics. More ⤵️

As @spotlightcorruption.org highlight, the new bill meant to strengthen accountability against misconduct at the highest levels of government, unfortunately introduces an "absurdly wide defence of having a ‘reasonable excuse’". This flaw needs to be addressed before its written into law.

It's rare to see how lobbyists operate. But the Epstein-Mandelson correspondence shows us what happens all the time: plutocrats and government ministers conspiring against the public interest. This is why all lobbying should be in the public domain, but despite Labour and Con promises, it's not. 🧵

Who leaked this Number 10 discussion to Jeffrey Epstein? And are there consequences for the leaker? It’s an internal discussion re. getting markets moving in the aftermath of the financial crisis. No doubt of great interest to Epstein and his financial market clients.

Thrilled to be working with Martin, @mysociety.org & others on this - a brand new #FOI conference! Join us (Birkbeck, London/online) on Thurs 19 Feb - sign up for free pretix.eu/mysociety/fo... And sign up for details of a new FOI Network - more details to follow www.mysociety.org/transparency...

Large donations come in, ads start to pour out (about £35k's worth on Facebook in the last seven days, plus all the ones they ran across newspapers a week ago).

In this opinion piece out today I argue that the current recusal process is not working as intended considering that both the Secretary of State for DCMS and the Prime Minister recused themselves *after* the substantial public decisions had been made. www.transparency.org.uk/news/late-re...

🔴 BREAKING: Our fake Chinese AI investor bought access to 10+ Labour MPs and minister Brand new investigation by Democracy for Sale and Led By Donkeys. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-o...

Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said of Mr Gill in sentencing that "Allowing money to corrupt your moral compass constitutes a grave betrayal of the trust vested in you by the electorate."

🆕 BLOG 🆕 The UK Government's 2025 National Risk Assessment identified crypto assets as a growing risk to money laundering and terrorist financing Our new explainer looks at how crypto works and potential risks it poses to political funding. Read more ⤵️ www.transparency.org.uk/news/does-cr...

🔴Keir Starmer’s Election Reforms Will Leave UK Politics Exposed to Dark Money and Foreign Interference, Warns Labour MP The party’s former Shadow Democracy Minister said the Government was failing to take the bold steps required to eliminate foreign interference in our elections

Does the elections white paper go far enough? At 1pm tomorrow, join @catsmithmp.bsky.social, @rosewhiff.bsky.social, Tom Hawthorn and David Howarth at our free, online event to consider if the government's plans are sufficient to ensure electoral integrity. Sign up 👉 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo....

“Our analysis suggests the Government’s approach to improving standards remains piecemeal, falling short of the comprehensive change needed” @rosewhiff.bsky.social @transparencyuk.bsky.social #UKPolitics #Standards www.transparency.org.uk/news/analysi...

My colleague @rosewhiff.bsky.social marked international ‘day of democracy’ with this timely suggestion for what we need to do to protect our politics and elections from capture by parties’ ultra-wealthy backers:

"Money buys influence in British democracy" My evidence from Parliament yesterday on threats from foreign influence in British politics. Full video on the Democracy for Sale YouTube channel (Do subscribe!!) www.youtube.com/@Democracy_f...

Worth noting in the Angela Rayner stamp duty debacle that, notwithstanding public pressure, the PM has discretion on what sanction, if any, to deliver. Since December 2022, as per a recommendation from CSPL, the Prime Minister has a range of sanctions to administer. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"Government should embrace transparency as the default, not fight expensive legal battles to maintain unnecessary secrecy." @rosewhiff.bsky.social @transparencyuk.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #UKPolitics #Standards

🚨 Important intervention from the Committee on Standards in Public Life that they – like us and many others – are not happy with the government keeping the power to set the @electoralcommission.org.uk’s overall strategy.

"A secret meeting between finance executives and a senior Tory cabinet minister arranged by Keir Starmer’s top business aide Varun Chandra has prompted the lobbying watchdog to launch an investigation into his former firm, Hakluyt & Company." www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-mone...

Today, the Government released their long-awaited Strategy for Modern and Secure Elections. Out experts outline some of the key provisions in the White Paper and talk through what’s missing ⬇️

The big problem with Labour's Election Bill? does *nothing* about scale of money in British politics No donation caps. No changes to sky-high spending limits Ironically Bill dropped on same day as spending data from 2024 - showing the most expensive election in British history

🗣️ "Crackdown on foreign donations welcome, but bolder action needed to end corrupting influence of big money." See our full statement on the government's new elections strategy published today ⤵️ www.transparency.org.uk/news/crackdo...

🆕 BLOG 🆕 Did you know the UK's electoral watchdog can only fine parties up to £20,000 - even for serious breaches? Our new explainer reveals why current enforcement is failing to deter rule-breaking and what reforms are urgently needed. Read more ⤵️ www.transparency.org.uk/news/how-our...

🆕 BLOG 🆕 Did you know weak electoral laws are allowing millions of pounds to enter UK political parties from untraceable origins? Our new explainer looks into the dark money problem in UK politics and what can be done to bring real transparency to who is funding our politicians. Read more ⤵️

We have new opinion polling on House of Lords reform! There is overwhelming public support to go beyond the government's current plans to remove hereditary peers (due to be debated in the Lords on Wednesday), including to limit prime ministerial appointments and cap the chamber's size. A thread 👇

Write up of evidence session for the Standards Committee the other week www.mysociety.org/2025/06/05/g...

🗣️ "When there's nothing left to buy, what is it that money can't buy? Well, it turns out that money can buy politics, and that's what they've set out to do." In Parliament last night @duncanhames.bsky.social set out why we must stop billionaires like Elon Musk buying power in our politics.

What do political parties, politicians and political campaigners spend money on? The second in @transparencyuk.bsky.social's explainer series about money in politics from myself and @rosewhiff.bsky.social www.transparency.org.uk/news/what-do...

🗣️ "...all second jobs should be prohibited except those that maintain a professional qualification or provide an essential public service." Earlier this week @rosewhiff.bsky.social gave evidence to House of Commons Committee on Standards on the need to end second jobs for MPs.

How are political parties and politicians funded? @rosewhiff.bsky.social from @transparencyuk.bsky.social explains www.transparency.org.uk/news/how-are...

In November of last year, Overseas Territories committed to introducing new legislation with a view to bring forward transparent corporate registers by June. Most of them are already falling behind. Our analysis below 👇

You can find our full analysis on the flurry of lobbying activity around legislation on Football regulation, tobacco and more on our website. Read more ⤵️ www.transparency.org.uk/news/behind-...

A succinct and persuasive case for substantive political finance reform from @rosewhiff.bsky.social in the latest edition of @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/views/letter...

🔴 UK Election Officials Are Not Keeping Any Records of How Many Overseas Donors Are Bankrolling UK Politics Democracy campaigners are calling for urgent reform of UK electoral laws, as Nigel Farage’s party launches a fundraising drive among voters living in overseas tax havens

🗣️ The law “is not only riddled with loopholes but deliberately structured to omit crucial information about who lobbies politicians [and] their financial resources” @rosewhiff.bsky.social spoke to the @financialtimes.com on the need for tighter rules on lobbying. www.ft.com/content/fb26...

🚨 Our new report finds: 👉 Firms giving the most hospitality to government decision-makers are also getting the most meetings 👉 businesses meet decision-makers 23 more times than public interest groups. The public interest risks getting sidelined as a result

📺 Last week's debate on political finance saw MPs from across parliament voice their support for tackling big money's grip on politics. Watch 👇 to hear from @joepowell.bsky.social @stellacreasy.bsky.social @elliechowns.bsky.social @rachelblakemp.bsky.social + more, on what can be done to fix it.

NEW: Last year Peter Mandelson's lobbying firm Global Counsel paid £35k to second a staffer to shadow Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq A months later Siddiq wanted advice on financial services reform. Guess who she called? Yep, Global Counsel. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/ruling-on-...

👍 Good to see minister @rushanaraalibgs.bsky.social agreeing that “Robust regulation and enforcement of political finance rules are crucial for maintaining public trust ... and combatting the threat of foreign interference” in her recent letter to the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

Blink and you'll miss it. The Government recently released their promised gifts and hospitality "register", but the changes were more subtle than expected. Read commentary from me here: www.transparency.org.uk/news/promise...

Last week I had the opportunity to share the stage with @theferret.scot & @foescot.bsky.social as well as @rosewhiff.bsky.social from @transparencyuk.bsky.social to talk about why lobbying transparency matters & how Open Access helps you check the data. www.transparency.org.uk/news/shining...

Our updated Open Access tool allows users to both analyse and compare lobbying transparency data at Holyrood and Westminster. It now leverages machine learning to allow searches by topic, including climate, housing, defence, finance and health. Try Open Access ➡️ www.openaccess.transparency.org.uk

My excellent @transparencyuk.bsky.social colleagues will be joining @theferret.scot & @foescot.bsky.social at @scvo.scot #Gathering. We will discuss how lobbying transparency protects against corruption risks, generates news stories & aids campaigning tactics. Register now scvo.scot/the-gatherin...

UK politics will better serve all voters of all persuasions if there were (1) strict limits on donation size & (2) closed loopholes for foreign influence. www.lbc.co.uk/news/labour-... #UKPolitics

Margaret Hodge appointed UK anti-corruption champion to tackle flow of ‘dirty money’

🔍 NEW We’ve just added 3000+ new meetings to our Open Access database of Government meetings with external organisations. Check out the new data here ⤵️ openaccess.transparency.org.uk

Reports that billionaire X/Twitter owner Elon Musk is considering donating nearly £80 million ($100m) to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party have sounded alarm bells about the state of Britain’s loophole-ridden election laws bylinetimes.com/2024/12/05/e...