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SubscriptionsAuthor: David Hencke
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Australian Free Trade Deal Hampers UK on Environmental and Food Standards, says Parliamentary Report
The UK’s first post-Brexit free trade agreement with Australia was so rushed that protection for niche British products was overlooked, according to a Parliamentary report
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UK’s Ability to Deal With Animal Disease Pandemics Compromised Due to Lack of Investment
David Hencke has the details of a shocking new report showing how a flagship science laboratory needs a multi-billion-pound refurb
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‘Perhaps the Most Shameful Episode of the Pandemic’: £4 Billion of PPE to Go Up in Smoke
David Hencke has the details of a new parliamentary report showing how masses of equipment bought by the Government is set for the incinerator
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Johnson’s Culture War Against Judges Having a ‘Chilling Effect’ on Rule of Law, Warns Parliamentary Report
Leading MPs and peers express their concerns about the Government’s attacks on the independent judiciary, reports David Hencke
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UK Regulators ‘Fumbling in Dark’ After Brexit, Report Finds
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee raises serious concerns around recruitment and information sharing at three of the country’s key watchdogs
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Fraud, Abuse, Waste, Chaos: Official Report Slams Management of UK Borders during Pandemic
David Hencke reports on a damning National Audit Office analysis of the multiple failures of Boris Johnson’s Global Travel Taskforce
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‘Government Risks Damaging Democracy for Generations to Come’, Warns New Report on Citizenship Education
Citizenship should be redefined to promote a more positive form of it and should not be linked with opposing extremism, according to peers
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Government Only Took Minutes in Two Out of Eight Randox Meetings, New Watchdog Report Reveals
The National Audit Office points out significant transparency holes in the Government’s approach to the healthcare giant Randox, that won COVID contracts worth hundreds of millions
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Failings in Key Army Contract Hits UK’s Ability to Fight a Modern War
David Hencke reports on a major impasse in the delivery of new armoured vehicles to the British Army
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Government’s Climate Policy Chaos Exposed by Two New Reports
The UK’s net zero ambitions are stalling under the Conservative Party’s leadership, reports David Hencke
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Watchdog Raises Concerns Over UK Defence Spending Plans
As war in Europe looms, David Hencke reports on the Government’s controversial attempt to modernise our defence equipment
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Damning Report Suggests Government is Soft on COVID Fraud
A committee of MPs has found that HMRC is failing to deal with an ‘avalanche’ of fraud by businesses during the pandemic, reports David Hencke
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Police’s Privileged Treatment of Government Confirms It’s One Rule for Them, Another for the Rest of Us
David Hencke, who sat on the Gosport War Memorial Hospital inquiry, explores why Dame Cressida Dick’s decision to redact large parts of the Sue Gray report is such a departure from the norm
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Sajid Javid Signs Off £1 Billion Private Health Windfall as MPs Sound Alarm
The Health and Social Care Secretary has agreed an ‘insurance policy’ with private providers, in breach of Treasury spending guidelines, reports David Hencke
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Building Back Botched
The Government’s housing and construction plans are failing to deliver the country’s housing needs, a new parliamentary report has found
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The Brexit Slump: UK-EU Trade Continues to Lag As New Regulations Loom
A new House of Lords report exposes the economic aftershocks of Brexit, highlights David Hencke
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Brexit Trade Deals Failing to Deliver a Dividend, Report Says
The reality of ‘Global Britain’ is failing to match the rhetoric, reports David Hencke
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Rattling the Money Tree: Government May Fail to Recover Billions in COVID Loans
The Government is inundated with fraud cases, a new report reveals. David Hencke has the details
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UK Government Denying Democracy and Ruling by Diktat, Senior Lords Say
David Hencke reports on two committees that condemn the shift of power away from Parliament to ministers through the use of ‘skeleton bills’ and statutory instruments
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The Great Rail Con: The Conservatives Have Betrayed Their Rail Promises for the Last Decade
David Hencke tracks the ways in which successive governments have watered-down their transport promises to the north and the midlands
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The Johnson Scandal is Far Sleazier than ‘Cash for Questions’
David Hencke, who broke the story of MPs tabling parliamentary questions on behalf of private interests in 1994, reflects on why Boris Johnson’s actions are a threat of a different kind to Britain’s political system
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Cheat Out to Help Out: Government Loses Nearly £6 Billion in Fraud Involving COVID Schemes
HMRC annual accounts reveal billions lost in fraud through the Treasury’s furlough payments and Rishi Sunak’s eating out scheme
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Government Quietly Cuts Commitment to Green Grants
David Hencke finds a hole in Rishi Sunak’s climate investment promises
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Diversity in Reverse: No ‘Levelling Up’ Evident in Public Appointments, Report Finds
In their representation of women and ethnic minority people, government bodies are moving in the wrong direction, reports David Hencke
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Conservative ‘Bonfire of Quangos’ Has Failed to Materialise, MPs Warn
The Government is appointing its favourite candidates to powerful external agencies without proper processes or monitoring, David Hencke reports
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Poorly Pooches Abandoned by Brexit
David Hencke reports on the national vets shortage, caused by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the Coronavirus crisis and a rise in the number of people buying pets
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A Royal Cover-Up: The Hidden Hand of Monarchy Blocking the Public’s Right to See Lord Mountbatten’s Diaries
David Hencke reports on the long-running battle of historian Andrew Lownie against the Government over the release of documents which were bought on behalf of the public for millions of pounds by Southampton University The hidden hand of the Royal Family is behind the Government’s determination to stop the publication of some of the diaries…
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Scathing Report On Afghanistan Reconstruction Paints a Picture of American Chaos and Waste
Findings by America’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction paint the country’s mission in Afghanistan in a very bad light, reports David Hencke
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Tens of Thousands of EU Citizens in UK could have Missed Out on Applying for Settled Status, Lords Warn
In a new report, peers also raise concerns about the lack of certificates issued to those who have obtained settled status – raising concerns about how this group can prove that they have a right to be in the country
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Boris Johnson Halts Update to Government Conduct ‘Bible’
The Cabinet Manual is 10 years out of date, yet the Prime Minister has shelved plans to refresh it, reports David Hencke
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Business Department Advisors Lobbied Government Bank Over Greensill Loans, Report Reveals
David Hencke reports on a new twist in the Greensill Capital lobbying saga uncovered by the independent public spending watchdog
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Retreat and Stalemate in the Phoney War Between the UK and the EU
David Hencke reports how sabre-rattling over sausages, fishing rights and data-sharing has generally ended in climbdowns or delays
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Hancock Plans to Hide his Health Data Grab From Parliamentary Scrutiny
The collection of medical information proposed by the Health and Social Care Secretary could have vast consequences, despite limited oversight, reports David Hencke
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Unaccountable Chaos: Scathing Lords Report Criticises Government COVID Response
Downing Street dodged Parliament and sowed confusion, a new House of Lords review has concluded
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Staff Burnout An ‘Extraordinarily Dangerous Risk’ to NHS and Social Care, MPs Warn
A new report by the Health and Social Care Committee reveals how staff shortages of doctors, nurses and other clinicians have been exacerbated by the Coronavirus crisis
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Priti Patel’s Interference is Jeopardising the Future of Independent Panels
David Hencke explains why the Home Secretary’s intervention in the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel report is so unprecedented and disturbing
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Child Offenders Spending 23 Hours a Day Locked in their Cells During Coronavirus Crisis
David Hencke reports on worrying developments in a longstanding issue: how the criminal justice system treats children and young people in offenders’ institutions
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UK’s Post-Brexit Mexican Trade Deal Left Obsolete
The EU-Mexico Agreement has thrown a spanner in the works, reports David Hencke
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Lords Raise ‘Grave Concerns’ about Brexit’s Impact on Family Law, Crime and Justice
UK law enforcement can no longer immediately access real-time data about persons and objects of interest, including wanted and missing persons
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UK in Brexit Limbo with EU Disputes Resolution Bodies Still Not Set Up, Say Lords
Twenty-five committees and five study groups to cover almost every conceivable area of interest between the EU and UK have still not been established
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Human Rights Watchdog Boss Quits Amid Lockdown Breach Allegations
Rebecca Hilsenrath appears to be the only senior figure in Whitehall to have resigned over an apparent violation of Coronavirus restrictions, David Hencke reports
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Pork Barrel Prosecution: Jenrick Faces Legal Challenge Over Tory Marginal Spending Splurge
David Hencke reports how the Government’s distribution of ‘levelling up’ funds is being contested by the Good Law Project for not being on the level
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Government Admits Defeat Over £23 Million NHS Data Contract for Controversial Firm Palantir
Lawyers acting for the NHS have conceded it cannot offer companies such as Palantir a long-term NHS role without consulting the public
