Category: Corruption

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The week in Tory: tax, Channel 4, #partygate and more…

Russ In Cheshire
Graffiti: sleaze

As some of you might expect, the latest banshee howl that is #TheWeekInTory is quite lengthy, and I advise a deep dive into your preferred sedative before beginning. Let us begin where the last one ended, which is, astonishingly, a mere five days ago [cue wobbly screen]… 1. Having spent a week insisting there was […]

Partygate: letters to Conservative MPs

Editor-in-chief
champagne being poured

Here is a sample of the letters MPs will no doubt be receiving today and for days to come. The anger is not going to go away and the fact that the Conservatives feel they have no one to take Johnson’s place merely adds yet more insults to the very many injuries. Attention Mr Jupp […]

Fictitious times and magical thinking

David Knopfler
Unocorn toy

It’s high time we got real and faced up to the disastrous performance of the Johnson government and its damaging impact on our lives argues David Knopfler. We live in fictitious times, where magical thinking has replaced facts: where we pretend that pandemics are over despite the bodies piling up at our mortuaries in ever […]

The week in Tory…partygate, Sunak, world-beating tailbacks, MadNad and more

Russ In Cheshire
Honey Monster

Let’s start #TheWeekInTory with PartyGate, where randy Honey Monster and (no, really) Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied 20 fines meant there had been wrongdoing. 2. This doesn’t quite explain why he had personally phoned the Queen to apologise for all the wrongdoing. 3. Regardless, The Metropilitan Police issued MASSIVE fines of £50 for breaching lockdown […]

Why did they let it happen? Putin’s agents and our guardians

Andrew Levi
Russian dolls

Many of us are watching the disintegration of democracy and the UK’s reputation for trustworthiness and integrity and (naively) wondering when the rule of law, standards of conduct will reassert themselves. Surely someone, some authority will step in and stop the canker from spreading? Andrew Levi tells it like it (unfortunately) is… It won’t take […]

The week in Tory – you couldn’t make it up

Russ In Cheshire
Russian trade is bloodstained

This edition of #TheWeekInTory fell on April Fool’s Day, and there was an obvious temptation to slip a fib into this. I didn’t. So if you feel fooled, it’s only because some of you voted for these gibbering apes. Anyway, here we go, with the longest, stupidest one yet… 1. Grant Shapps (who has more […]

Is the Johnson government the worst in history?

Mark E Thomas
Boris Johnson

This article by Mark E Thomas explores whether the Johnson government is the worst in recent British history. You can read the ‘summary’ or delve into the supporting articles. Either way, it’s a compelling and damning reckoning. All politicians (and all people) occasionally lie. But Johnson is “probably the best liar we’ve ever had as […]

The Johnson guide to government

Richard Haviland
Cartoon of Boris Johnson with A Pinocchio nose and flying Peppa Pigs

On a day (29 March 2022) when the PM has made it clear he has no interest in mass law-breaking, on his watch, in his office, here’s my revised essential Johnson guide to government: Accept responsibility for nothing. 2. Blame others for things that are your fault. 3. Take credit for things that aren’t your […]

The week in Tory…it’s an epic edition!

Russ In Cheshire
banner outside Westminster: corrupt Tory government

Russ’s epic and epigrammatic summary of the madness and horror that is the current UK political scene. We’ve left the numbers in so you don’t get lost! Buckle up! I was going to do #TheWeekInTory, but try as I might, I can’t find a single thing they’ve done wrong this week. Only kidding. It’s been […]

The Russian connection – video

Jon Danzig
Johnson and Putin talking to each other

Watch and share! Jon Danzig is an independent campaigning journalist and film maker who specialises in writing about health, human rights, and Europe. He is also founder of the information campaign, Reasons2Rejoin You can follow Jon Danzig on Facebook and LinkedIn

What are Russians thinking about Putin’s war, and why?

Tom Scott
Putin's eyes

“They slaughter and maim tens of thousands of men, and then they say prayers of thanksgiving for having slaughtered so many people (inflating the numbers) and proclaim victory, supposing that the more people slaughtered, the greater the merit. How does God look down and listen to them!“Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace Almost exactly 33 years […]

Why do we still have a clown for a PM?

A L Kennedy

A richly scatological analysis of the parlous state of our domestic politics by multi-award-winning author, A L Kennedy. This article first appeared as Handgranaten gefüllt mit Dummheit in Süddeutsche Zeitung I know, it’s mystifying. Popo, our killer clown, the dog turd on our national mantelpiece – why is he still Prime Minister?  The answers to that question reveal […]

Vigil for Ukraine: Exeter

Editor-in-chief
Ben Bradshaw speaking at Exeter vigil for Ukraine

A large crowd gathered in Exeter’s Bedford Square to attend a pro-Ukraine vigil organised by Exeter City Council’s leader, Phil Bialyk. Phil has family in the Ukraine and during the course of his speech he spoke to his brother in Ukraine. Although we could not catch his words, that was one of many heart-rendingly emotional […]

What should sanctions look like?

Richard Murphy
street art of Putin in a skip

Boris Johnson announced sanctions against Russia on 22 February in response to its invasion of Ukraine that made him and his government look like a laughing stock. Five banks and three oligarchs, each of whom had already been sanctioned in the USA for some time, will now face UK sanctions that are likely to have […]

I see you, Sheryll Murray – a day with Steve Bray outside Westminster

Nicola Tipton
Banner: 'self-serving liars are destroying our democracy'

Steve Bray will be familiar to anyone who watches the news or current affairs programmes. His anti-Brexit, pro-democracy protests have upset the government so much (touching endless raw nerves) that Priti Patel even tried to write a specific clause in the Policing Bill to outlaw his presence. You might wonder what he does each day, […]

Carl Garner is spot on: Russia, Johnson and defence

Carl Garner
Biliard balls with the white on the spot

Carl lives in Cornwall and his MP is Sheryll Murray, Conservative. He has cause to write to her frequently… Dear Sheryll, Now that Russia has finally decided to invade Ukraine, a sovereign state and friend, Boris Johnson has announced his humorous (to the Kremlin at least) threats of sanctions against Russian interests. I believe he […]

The smell of corruption

Richard Haviland
figure in gas mask with toxic orange smoke

In 2020, I wrote in The Times that, if the pattern continued of the Johnson government refusing to be held to account, “corruption – both political and financial – will seep into the national bloodstream” Today you can smell corruption in the words and deeds of far too many of the Conservative Party. Not just […]