The state of the UK

[JimC]

The implication that could be read into that piece of "information" was pretty clear - I was just wondering whether you subscribed to it or not...

[pErvinalia]

Why don't you read a bunch of unflattering things into it about me, and I'll just ignore it.

You're making no sense. That's why he's enquiring.

[Scot Dutchy]

More Chumocracy.

Fifth of UK Covid contracts ‘raised red flags for possible corruption’

Report finds ‘apparent systemic bias’ in award of lucrative PPE deals favouring firms connected to Tories


One in five government Covid contracts awarded between February and November 2020 contained one or more red flags for possible corruption and require urgent further investigation, a respected campaign group has warned.

Transparency International UK said a “seriously flawed” arrangement, whereby companies bidding for contracts were prioritised if they were referred into a “VIP lane” by their political connections, had “damaged trust in the integrity of the pandemic response”.

The group said Boris Johnson’s government must urgently disclose the identities of companies awarded public money through the VIP lane, which was set up by the Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care in the early days of the pandemic.

The government has so far refused to name the companies granted public money through the scheme, citing “commercial confidentiality”. It has previously claimed the purpose of the arrangement was to triage large numbers of offers to help from the private sector.

Transparency International UK said its analysis indicated “apparent systemic biases in the award of PPE contracts that favoured those with political connections to the party of government in Westminster”, contrary to denials by civil servants and Conservative ministers.

[Scot Dutchy]

The Guardian view on textocracy: bring politics back into the open

The pandemic justified urgency in decision-making, but the government uses it to evade scrutiny and shirk accountability

The pandemic has driven much activity that used to be conducted in public view into private spaces. Politics is no exception. Covid safety regulations prevent MPs packing the Commons, diminishing the chamber’s power to hold ministers to account. In its early stages, the emergency required some suspension of partisanship. Politics was reduced to the spectacle of the prime minister, flanked by scientific advisers, dispensing instructions on television. The early scramble to fight the virus also apparently required the abandonment of some Whitehall procurement protocol. Vital equipment was needed at short notice. That is the context in which Boris Johnson assured Sir James Dyson that certain tax liabilities could be waived if the inventor’s staff relocated from Singapore to produce hospital ventilators in the UK. The guarantee was made in an exchange of private text messages that only become public this week.

The prime minister has defended his action on the grounds that he was “moving heaven and earth” to procure life-saving equipment. That dodges the issue of whether access to the PM’s phone number should be the basis for deciding how the rules apply, and to whom. Other deserving suppliers had no such privileges.

The defence of expediency might be valid in some circumstances, but it has been used elastically – stretched to cover every decision where corners were cut and contracts awarded to those with personal connection to senior Tories. Distinguishing between necessary short cuts and maladministration is one reason why a thorough inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic is needed. There is a limit to the degree of transparency achievable via the Freedom of Information Act, especially with an uncooperative regime.

Just part of Chumocracy.

[pErvinalia]

It's Chumocracy all the way down!

[Svartalf]

I'm sure the dole fraudsters who rely on their chums to aid and abet their nefarious doings would be very flattered to be so compared to their betters.

[Hermit]

I'm sure the dole fraudsters who rely on their chums to aid and abet their nefarious doings would be very flattered to be so compared to their betters.

[Svartalf]

That's a very wise lady.

[Scot Dutchy]

Ýep Anglo-Saxons are like that. Any tit is a good as the last one.

[Seabass]

Chumocracy!

[Brian Peacock]

Cameron fucked a pig's head in the mouth. Just saying.

[JimC]

Everyone needs a hobby...

[laklak]

Don't kink shame.

[Seabass]

I used to get pretty fucked up back in the day, but I never fucked a dead animal in the head...

[pErvinalia]

Did he actually do that, or is this channelling Black Mirror?