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SubscriptionsColumn / Investigation: Crypto Politics
Dark money, lobbying, regulatory capture, state institutions hollowed by donor factions, foreign interference, and the financialisation of political power.
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Workers Face the Sack if They Don’t Cross Their Own Picket Lines. What Kind of Country is This?
Strike-breaking is now mandatory.
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David Cameron’s Appointment to Cabinet ‘Another Reminder Why the House of Lords Must Go’
The disgraced former Prime Minister has been handed a seat in the Lords for life.
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As Lukashenka Sides with Putin, the Belarusian Opposition Presses On
Despite their leader’s support for Russia, most Belarusians oppose the war with Ukraine, argues Mark Temnycky
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Government Claims it ‘Takes Seriously Its Constitutional Role and Responsibility’ – As Another Report Raises Concerns About Britain’s Democracy
The United Kingdom Constitution Monitoring Group believes there is evidence of a desire by some politicians to wholly bypass democracy
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‘Sunak’s Government is Using a Moment of Crisis to Clamp Down on Dissent. We Can’t Let it Stand’
The Conservatives’ rhetoric and actions against the right to protest concern us all, writes Liberty’s interim director Akiko Hart.
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Rishi Sunak U-Turns on Palestine March Protest Ban in Clash With Conservative London Mayoral Candidate
Susan Hall says the protest should have been “refused” permission – but the PM now says they have the right to march
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‘Suella Braverman’s “Hate March” Rhetoric is Another Desperate Attempt to Hold onto State Power’
The crafting of ‘ceasefire’ marches as a transgression of Remembrance Sunday looks like a throwback to a top-down colonial mindset, argues Suriyah Bi
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The Hypocrisy of the AI Summit: The UK is Doing Nothing About Political Misinformation
The Government rejected a cross party Lords recommendation that political advertising should be regulated according to factual accuracy. The former chair of the Select Committee wonders why
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The Empathy Gap and a Politics of Extremes
Empathy – to be of any meaning – needs to be bolstered by a willingness to accept one’s failures, writes Iain Overton
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Time to Tackle ‘Dark Money’ in Politics – As Voters Demand Transparency Over Britain’s Opaque Think Tanks
We know very little about the funding for many of the UK’s leading think tanks – but a new report sheds some light
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Why Are the Conservatives in a ‘Union’ with Viktor Orbán and Narendra Modi?
Peter Geoghegan examines the membership and funding of the International Democracy Union.
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Conservative Think Tank Urges Sunak to Sabotage Labour Plans for Electoral and Political Reform
The opaquely-funded group has close links to the Prime Minister
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‘From BP to Banks: There’s Lots of Money Around – It’s Just Not In Workers’ Pockets’
Despite Government calls for pay restraint, new figures show some people are doing very well out of the cost of living crisis, writes Josiah Mortimer
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Energy Bills Set to Rise Next Year After Colossal Collapse of So Many Companies, MPs Report
Taxpayers have been left with a £2.7 billion bill, according to the Public Accounts Committee
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Government Rejects Voters’ Calls to Make Lying to Parliament a Crime, Over ‘Freedom of Speech’ Fears
Lying to a court is a crime with a prison sentence. Lying to Parliament can lead to a temporary suspension.
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‘Letting Young Adults Vote is One of Labour’s Few Genuinely Radical Proposals’
The extension of the franchise could shift the character of British politics, writes Nicholas Reed Langen
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Reversing the Road to Unfreedom: The Polish Elections are Finally Some Good News for Democracy
Those in America looking for a way out of the toxic Trumpian cycle should look to Poland as a starting point
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‘Easing Post-Brexit Trade Between the UK and EU Would Benefit Business and Industry on Both Sides’
Mike Buckley, director of the Independent Commission on UK-EU Relations, sets out the tangible steps that could improve post-Brexit trade
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Conservative ‘Politicisation’ of the Civil Service Has Damaged Public Trust, Warn Peers
A Parliamentary investigation found senior civil servants were being ousted by the Government for ‘ideological’ reasons
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‘Farcical’: Disbelief as Disgraced Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is Appointed as ‘Democracy Union’ Adviser
Johnson was found to have unlawfully suspended Parliament and lied to MPs.
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‘Scrap Voter ID to Save Cash’, Democracy Group Tells Jeremy Hunt Ahead of Autumn Statement
Mandatory voter ID rules are expected to cost the taxpayer £120m over the next decade.
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Keir Starmer ‘Waters Down’ Labour Commitment to Overhauling Unelected House of Lords
Only last December, Sir Keir backed plans for a “new second chamber” which would have “electoral legitimacy”.
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Georgia’s Governing Party is Distancing Itself from the EU and Ukraine
By aligning itself with the Kremlin, the Georgian Dream party is at odds with the country’s population who want to move closer to NATO and the EU
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Firm Chaired By ‘Pro-Privatisation’ Right-Wing US Billionaire in Line to Oversee NHS Health Data
Max Colbert and Josiah Mortimer explore the chequered history of the current favourites for the NHS’ new Data Platform.
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Government Slammed Over ‘Chilling’ Warning Shot to Media Outlets Over Russell Brand Coverage
“A Legal Officer’s duty is to apply the law, not to interfere with the editorial decisions of a free press,” standards body Impress said in a letter to the Government.
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‘Ed Balls and George Osborne’s New Podcast is Essential Listening – But Not for the Reasons They Think’
The two former chancellors reveal how ‘the grown-ups in the room’ collude in their outlook
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Companies House Failings Enable Global Fraud and Identity Theft
The lax management of the UK companies register allows fake businesses to proliferate
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How Campaigners and Charities are being ‘Gagged by Government’ as Report Issues Stark Warning
From the Lobbying Act to condemnation of peaceful campaigners by Government figures, free speech has been thoroughly degraded, the authors argue
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‘Children of Men’ – 17 Years On: A Grave Warning to a Nation Adrift
The 2006 film set in a dystopian London of the future has much to say about modern Britain – especially the ‘doom loop’ trapping younger generations, writes Matt Gallagher
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Revealed: Former MPs Used Parliament Access Passes Over 3,000 times
This is the last time you’ll ever know about ex-MPs who lobby for nuclear, gambling and energy industries visiting Parliament – because Jacob Rees Mogg had all the data destroyed
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Fears of a ‘Progressive Tragedy’ in Mid Beds as Labour and Lib Dems Fight It Out
Compass director Neal Lawson described the situation in Nadine Dorries’ seat as “madness”.
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Brexit: Betrayal, Divergence and Dishonesty
Despite Keir Starmer’s mixed comments on our future relationship with the EU, Labour’s Brexit omertà seems to be over, writes Shamik Das
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Voter ID, Big Party Bungs, and Payouts to Shamed MPs Would Be Scrapped Under Lib Dem Plans
The Liberal Democrats have set out proposals for overhauling UK democracy, our Chief Reporter writes from Bournemouth.
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‘Government Stonewalling on Transparency on Foreign Influence Undermines its Tough Rhetoric on Chinese Spying’
An approach to foreign influence that relies on identifying particular state threats risks shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, writes Tom Griffin
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Campaigners Risk Prison by Standing Outside Courts Telling Jurors of ‘Right to Acquit’
Trudi Warner faces up to two years in prison for contempt of court. Now activists across the country are copying her action in solidarity
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Welsh Government Throws Down the Gauntlet in Bid to Stop Controversial ‘Anti-Boycott’ Bill
Opponents of the bill say it is designed to undermine the freedom of speech of those critical of the Israeli Government
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Government Rejects Call For Voters To Boot Out No-Show MPs Like Nadine Dorries
Nadine Dorries has prompted a debate over whether MPs should be forced to attend Parliament – rather than attend their lucrative TV gigs.
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Putin’s Post-Truth Politics: The Impeachment of Biden is History Rewritten as Farce
The spurious Republican inquiry treads the same treacherous ground of Russian propaganda exposed in the impeachment of Trump
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‘A Poor Country with a Few Rich People in it’: Renowned Inequalities Expert Speaks Out as Bereaved Families Give their Accounts of ‘The Unequal Pandemic’
A new short film reveals the heart-wrenching stories of those who lost their loved ones to COVID – and exposes the politics of poverty behind the crisis
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One Alleged Chinese Spy Simply Means There Are Many More
China has emerged as a greater threat than Russia, despite Ukraine. In the New Cold War, China is richer, more populous, and the dominant power pitted against the West
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Voter ID Made it Harder for Young, Poor and Ethnic Minorities to Vote, Official Study Finds
The study suggests that those groups less likely to vote Conservative were more likely to be turned away
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Westminster’s Two-Party ‘Duopoly’ Leaves Voters with ‘Little Choice’ and Lacking ‘Meaningful Voice’, Study Finds
Political distrust has often “been the first step in a sequence of autocratisation, resulting in the breakdown of democracy itself” the report notes.
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Press Watchdog Writes to Conservatives and Party Chairs Over ‘Misleading’ Fake Newspapers
The party is “misleading voters into believing what they are reading is the work of local journalists from independent publications”
