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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Last Ditch Bill Introduced to Scrap Mandatory Voter ID in England’s Elections this May
Lib Dems are trying to reverse the legislation they fear will cause chaos at the ballot box, while activists warn that trans people may be excluded by photo ID
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The Real Truth About the European Court of Human Rights? It Hardly Ever Overrules the UK
Per person, the ECHR dealt with fewer human rights challenges concerning the UK than anywhere else in 2022, Josiah Mortimer reports
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The Downfalls of Johnson and Truss ‘Have Not Brought UK’s Constitutional Chaos to an End’
Nearly 100 areas of concern for UK democracy are highlighted in a worrying new report
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Iraq and Brexit: A Common Thread of Hubris
Both events were driven more by ideological conviction – than rational analysis – and against the advice of most experts, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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Boris Johnson Rewrites History at the Privileges Committee
The former Prime Minister’s refusal to accept responsibility for his own actions only adds insult to the injury of all those forced to make huge sacrifices during the pandemic, writes Adam Bienkov
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Trump’s Various Legal Entanglements
Heidi Siegmund Cuda reviews the former US President’s multiple legal cases, separating fact from the unreality he promotes on his propaganda platform Truth Social
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Labour has ‘More Seats to Gain by Rejecting Brexit than it would Lose in Red Wall’, New Poll Suggests
Keir Starmer could win an increased majority by turning against Brexit – but party officials are still rejecting any notion of rejoining the EU
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Poor Health: Why are the British Dying Earlier than Expected?
The UK has fallen to 29th in the global rankings of life expectancy. Matthew Gwyther looks at the economic and social reasons why the country has become the ‘sick man of Europe’ again
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PM’s Power to Preside Over Breaches of Ministerial Code Should be Removed, Proposes New Bill
‘We can’t continue to have a situation in which the government is allowed to set and mark its own homework’, says campaigner Jennifer Nadel
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Boris Johnson’s ‘Bombshell’ Dossier Blows Up His Own Partygate Defence
The Former Prime Minister’s evidence to the Privileges Committee only confirms his complicity in events inside Downing Street during lockdown, writes Adam Bienkov
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Did the Cabinet Office Lie?
Despite years of asking for the former special advisor’s WhatsApp messages under Freedom of Information laws, the Cabinet Office may never have asked Dominic Cummings for them. Why? Iain Overton reports
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Starmer Under Pressure to Commit to PR Voting System and Breaking Up Media Giants from Labour Grassroots
The party’s consultation process for the next manifesto has just closed – as democracy groups call on the Labour Leader to seize the mantle of reform, Josiah Mortimer reports
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The Second-Jobbing MPs Earning Millions Outside Parliament
A Byline Times investigation reveals 20 MPs working the equivalent of at least one day a week on second jobs
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Georgian Government Drops ‘Foreign Agents’ Bill, but the Fight Against Kremlin Influence Continues
Mark Temnycky looks at the turbulence in Tbilisi, Georgians’ desire to join the EU, and the authoritarian drift of the ruling Dream Party
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All the Bad News Buried in Jeremy Hunt’s Budget
Buried in the Chancellor’s Statement is news the UK will suffer a sustained period of low growth, high taxes and a record-breaking fall in living standards, reports Adam Bienkov
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Why Leaving the ECHR would be Such a Backwards Step for Britain
Barrister Gareth Roberts explains how the European Convention on Human Rights affects the lives of British citizens
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How the EU Broke Up with the City of London – but Not with UK Tax Havens
Six years after the Brexit referendum, the amount of money lodged in British tax havens has reached mind-blowing levels. Florence Autret explains why
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‘The BBC’s Pursuit of Bogus ‘Impartiality’ Finally Crashes and Burns’
After years of appeasing its enemies, former BBC journalist and producer Patrick Howse believes the BBC’s destruction from within has been spectacularly exposed
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MPs links to Christian Nationalism Revealed
Karam Bales looks at the senior British Conservatives appearing at the National Conservatism Conference with its international right wing network, from Peter Thiel to Viktor Orbán
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Gary Lineker, Andrew Neil and the BBC’s Real Impartiality Crisis
Prominent right-wingers at the BBC have long been given the sort of leeway for their views that those on the left never will, writes Adam Bienkov
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New Strategic Realities: A Rising India and Declining Britain
Chris Ogden – a consultant on the recent BBC documentary series examining the record of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – explores why the West appears to be silent on the authoritarianism unfolding in the world’s largest democracy
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‘Britain Must Meet its Historic Responsibility to Hong Kong’
The UK Government must do more to stand against the curtailing of democracy by Beijing in the former British colony – and fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities, writes Lord Alton
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A Mysterious New Addition to the Tufton Street Clique
Max Colbert explores a new company which has just joined the collective of free-market, Brexit, and climate science-denying dark money groups at 55 Tufton Street
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No Shades of Gray: Privileges Committee Report Exposes Boris Johnson’s ‘Partygate’ Lies
A damning new report blows apart the former Prime Minister’s claims to have been ‘stitched-up’ over the scandal of lockdown parties in Downing Street, reports Adam Bienkov
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‘Towering Wealth Mountain of the Super-Rich Could Help Fund Social Reconstruction for the Many’
There is an historic opportunity for a progressive sea-change to reset today’s productivity sapping and inequality driving economic model, writes Stewart Lansley
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The Public Needs Answers on BBC Chairman Richard Sharp’s Donations to Groups Campaigning Against BBC
Pressure is mounting on the Johnson-appointed BBC Chairman – but no answers have been forthcoming from him or the corporation, reports Josiah Mortimer
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‘Incompetent Ministers and Duplicitous Journalists:’ The Matt Hancock Leaks
Isabel Oakeshott’s exposé comes in the wake of repeated rejections by the Government of every Freedom of Information request on the disclosure of ministers’ use of WhatsApp for official business, reports Iain Overton
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Rishi Sunak Refuses to Commit to Releasing his US Tax Returns
The Prime Minister has repeatedly delayed the release of his financial statements, originally promised last year, reports Adam Bienkov
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Rishi Sunak’s Brexit Deal Shows what Britain Lost by Leaving the EU
In seeking praise for repairing some of the damage caused by Brexit, Rishi Sunak’s revised deal only highlights what we lost through cutting ties with the EU, reports Adam Bienkov
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‘Are You Paying for this Room?’ Three Years of Far-Right Attacks on Migrant Hotels
The riot outside a hotel in Knowsley housing asylum seekers was the inevitable outcome of a long-standing organised campaign, Sian Norris reports
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‘With the Northern Ireland Protocol Deal, Sunak has Recognised Peace is Hard and Conflict is Deadly’
Do Boris Johnson, David Frost and the ERG want Northern Ireland to be stuck in a similar spiral of distrust and possible resumption of violence as the Israelis and Palestinians, writes former diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall
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BBC Chairman Donated Tens of Thousands of Pounds to Right-Wing Group Funding Criticism of BBC
Richard Sharp has pumped money into a group that almost funds organisations like the TaxPayers’ Alliance, Eurosceptics, and the BBC-bashing News-Watch
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Cropped Out: The Curious Tale of the BBC, Brexit and our Missing Vegetables
Former BBC journalist and producer Patrick Howse explores why the BBC’s reluctance to tell us when we are being lied to is well past its sell by date
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Brexit Britain: Half of Brits Would Choose to Leave UK
An exclusive poll for Byline Times finds only a minority of voters would choose to remain in the UK if given the option to emigrate to another country
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Suella Braverman and the Hard Right Capture of the Conservative Party
The Home Secretary’s GB News appearance shows how Rishi Sunak’s party has been taken over by a radical fringe on the right of British politics, writes Adam Bienkov
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Top Parliamentary Standards Official Warns Britain Slipping Into ‘Elected Dictatorship’
An unearthed paper suggests there are fears at the very top of Parliament that democracy is under threat, reports Josiah Mortimer
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Government Could Face EU Legal Challenge Over Anti-Strikes Legislation
The Minimum Service Levels Bill – and plans to scrap all ‘retained’ EU laws – could be in breach of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, reports Josiah Mortimer
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REVEALED: MPs’ Gifts from Gulf States Accused of Human Rights Abuses
Analysis by this newspaper reveals Conservative MPs make up the majority of those in receipt – as post-Brexit trading opportunities appear to be trumping ethical concerns for the Government
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Design Company Awarded £25m PPE Contract Applies to be Struck Off Without Submitting Any Accounts
Luxe Lifestyle Ltd, which provided 9m unusable items during the Coronavirus crisis via a ‘VIP lane’, has applied to be struck off without reporting how the money was spent
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‘Government by Think Tank’: The Return of Policy Exchange
Tom Griffin explores how an ideological reliance on lobbying groups appears to be undermining another Conservative leader
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GOP Congressional Hearing Accidentally Debunks ‘Twitter Files’: Trump — Not Biden — Tried to Censor Tweets
Elon Musk’s selective leaks suggested Twitter ‘censored’ Conservatives, but evidence shows they refused to boost a right-wing disinformation campaign around Hunter Biden’s laptop
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Major Law Firm Faces Court Over Withheld Contracts in Landmark NHS Whistleblowing Case
A judge has ordered full disclosure in a case which deprived 50,000 NHS doctors of legal whistleblowing protection
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Barriers to Work are Trapping Children in Poverty
New data has revealed the barriers single parents face in getting back to work, while rates of in-work poverty exposes Tory ‘myth’ that work is the route to riches, Sian Norris reports
