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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Why does the Kremlin Need a New Ministry of Propaganda?
After the revelation of the UK Parliament’s Russia Report, Kseniya Kirillova reports on Putin’s new disinformation operation to defend its existing ones
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The Mythical Nationalism of Trump and Modi Has Failed, So Now they’re Waging War on their Own Citizens
India and America are suffering parallel slides towards authoritarianism, reports CJ Werleman
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Mystery Move Sees Security Vetting Shift from Ministry of Defence to Gove’s Cabinet Office
David Hencke reports on what appears to be another centralising power grab as part of Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings’ plans to fundamentally change Whitehall
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REFLEXIVE CONTROL: Boris Johnson is Doing Putin’s Job for Him
Hardeep Matharu explores how the Government’s entire approach to the notion of foreign interference and the Russia Report reveals how far it is willing to go to erode the British political system itself
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THE RUSSIA REPORT Puts Johnson on the Spot
With its calls for an inquiry into Russian interference in Brexit, Peter Jukes reports on why the Prime Minister wanted to suppress the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report and what it reveals about Putin’s ongoing war on the West
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THE RUSSIA REPORT: Pro-Brexit Spin Operation Goes Into Overdrive
Sam Bright explains how Brexiters are desperately trying to warp the findings of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s long-awaited report into Russian influence in British political and public life
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A British Route to Freedom for the Hong Kongers Left Frozen by Beijing’s Chill
Tommy Walker speaks to pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong about their future in the city, following the imposition of China’s draconian national security law
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I Wouldn’t Want to Press the Nuclear Button for Boris Johnson
As Dominic Cummings sets his eyes on reconfiguring Britain’s military defence, a former Trident submarine commander explains why he has lost trust in the British Government
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Recruitment Firm Defends £18 Million PPE Contract
Stephen Delahunty reports on the Government handing a contract for personal protective equipment to a company which appears to have just £322 net assets
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Raab’s Red Herring to Distract from Russia Report Release
There was little substance to Dominic Raab’s statement on Russian interference, explains Henry Dyer.
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How Johnson and Trump Transformed Their Countries From World Health Leaders into Coronavirus Disaster Cases
Paul Niland explores how a sudden, wilful populist destruction of institutions dragged the two top-rated countries for global health emergencies to the bottom of the pile
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Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Obliterate the Last Frontier in Privacy – Our Biological Selves?
COVID-19 is accelerating the attempts of big tech companies to harvest our data, writes Tanya O’Carroll.
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Right-Wing Propaganda Pair Paid £3 Million to Run Coronavirus Communications
Sam Bright reports on how two 20-something New Zealanders, allies of Lynton Crosby, were awarded a massive Government COVID-19 campaign contract
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UK Deal to Share DNA and Fingerprints Evades Parliamentary Scrutiny
David Hencke reports on how the Government has broken David Cameron’s promise to protect British databases by the backdoor route of another obscure legal mechanism
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Facebook is Still Being Used to Rig Democracy
Caolan Robertson draws on his first-hand experience of stirring up right-wing political outrage for likes
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Poland, Mustard Gas, & the Rule of Law: The Battle for Illiberal Democracy
Blaise Blaquiche reports on how a coverup over missing chemical weapons reveals the importance of this weekend’s Polish presidential elections
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Another Strange Contract: The Loophole Allowing the Government to Avoid PPE Procurement Rules
Stephen Komarnyckyj investigates the Brexit effect and how Britain bypassed normal calls for competition in its extraordinary purchasing binge
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Putin’s Power Trip: How the President Has Cemented Russian Autocracy and Granted Himself Lifelong Legal Immunity
Zarina Zabrisky explains how the Russian President’s reforms to the Constitution have turned the country into an ethnostate and his rule into a dictatorship
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A Very British Coup? Former Royal Navy Trident Submarine Commander Assesses
Dr Andrew Corbett, of the Joint Services Command and Staff College, delves into evidence that the Government is actively undermining British democracy
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Lifestyle Company with No Employees or Trading History Handed £25 Million PPE Contract
Stephen Delahunty reports on another case of a private company with no expertise or experience providing personal protective equipment being engaged by the Government to do so
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Did Trump Cover-Up a Russian Conspiracy with the Taliban to Kill US Troops?
Kseniya Kirillova talks to intelligence experts about the likelihood the US President ignored evidence of GRU bounties paid to target troops in Afghanistan
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UK’s Rival to Galileo: A Brexit Farce
In space, as in so many policy areas, no one can hear you scream. Alex Andreou on another multi-million-pound fiasco driven by narrow nationalism
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‘A Hard Rain’: Johnson, Gove and Cummings Drive Britain Towards Elective Dictatorship
David Hencke reports on the radical moves to undermine parliamentary democracy by Boris Johnson’s chief advisor and the Cabinet Office Minister
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‘Betrayal’ and Intrigue: A Russian Politician’s Life in Exile
Kseniya Kirillova hears warnings from a dissident former Russian politician, whose father is a close friend of Vladimir Putin, of renewed attempts to subvert democracy.
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Secondary Infektion: How a Russian Operation Subverted British Politics
Stephen Komarnyckyj reports on a Kremlin-friendly online operation that tried to sow division between the UK and its allies remained undetected for years
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Jeux Sans Frontieres – Boris Johnson Gives Up Controlling the UK Border
Though it made much of controlling the borders, Mike Buckley reports how the Vote Leave Government is abandoning the principle at great cost to business and the NHS
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Another Great British World-Beating Fiasco
David Hencke reports on how much money has been wasted on the Government’s NHSX tracing app, which it has now ditched to follow one being used by other countries for some time
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Qanon in Georgia — The Conspiracy Theory that has Become an Article of Faith
Graham Williamson reports on how the bizarre American satanic myth is now going mainstream in the Republican Party
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Ruling by Decree: Boris Johnson and his Henry VIII Powers
David Hencke reports on new analysis from the House of Lords that reveals an extensive power grab by the Prime Minister and his Government
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How the Kremlin Tries to Play US Protests
Kseniya Kirillova reports on how Putin’s propaganda experts are trying to use Black Lives Matter to intervene abroad and bolster support at home
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Whitehall Analytica: Dominic Cummings’ Shake-Up of the British State Gathers Pace
David Hencke reports on how, having survived the scandal of breaking the COVID-19 lockdown, Boris Johnson’s chief advisor is not letting the Coronavirus crisis go to waste
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COVID-19 has Brought Our Slow-Moving Democratic Crisis Front and Centre
Kyle Taylor shares the recommendations of a new report focused on solutions to keep democratic processes going during crises such as the Coronavirus outbreak.
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Blackstone, Private Equity and the Future of Public Education
Tom White, Ben Jacob and Crystal Ma look at how private firms and billionaire donors could benefit from the radical restructuring of universities during the Coronavirus pandemic
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Why is the Guardian Accepting a Dodgy Subsidy from this Dodgy Government?
Brian Cathcart reveals how the paper that exposed phone hacking has joined the cosy newspaper cartel that publishes Government advertorial in return for a bung from Michael Gove
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Defending the Kremlin and British Business Ties with Russia
Sarah Hurst talks to the British businessman Roger Munnings about his business interests with Russian companies and his vocal support for Vladimir Putin
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Dutch Intelligence Report Underestimates Extent of Russian Influence in the Netherlands
Stephen Komarnyckyj reports on the Kremlin’s effective disinformation campaign around the shooting down of Flight MH17 with the loss of nearly two hundred Dutch lives
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PROPAGANDA BACKFIRE: The Kremlin’s Conspiracy Theories Undermine its Own Authority
By supporting theories aimed at destabilising the US during the Coronavirus pandemic, Kseniya Kirillova reports on how Putin has opened up a Pandora’s Box at home
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Dominic Cummings’ Whitehall Revolution is Underway
David Hencke reports on how the scandal-hit No. 10 chief advisor has already begun his long-term promise to use Big Tech models to disrupt the British state.
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Five Things Dominic Cummings Could Have Over Boris Johnson
With the Government mounting an unprecedented defence of the unelected chief advisor, Peter Jukes tries to work out what makes him so indispensable.
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A ‘Rollout’ for the US Elections: Ukraine Launches Court Case against Joe Biden
Stephen Komarnyckyj debunks the claims made against the Democratic US Presidential Candidate with the release of a new tape
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‘Without Freedom and Democracy What’s the Point in Living?’ – The New Law Presenting a Grave Threat to Hong Kong
Beijing has today approved plans for a new national security law to bring Hong Kong further under its control. What does this mean for the future of democracy on the island? Steve Shaw reports.
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The Cummings Scandal Shows Us Just How Dependent the Billionaire Press is on Boris Johnson
Brian Cathcart explains why Britain’s right-wing newspapers will try their best to support the Government in its attempts to ‘move on’ from the scandal of the Prime Minister’s chief advisor.
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Dominic Cummings’ Billion-Dollar Brainchild
David Hencke reveals up to £940 million in funding towards the No. 10 chief advisor’s pet project of a US-style research agency — ARPA.
