US election 2020: Trump’s path to victory: Voter suppression

October 30, 2020November 1, 2020 ducksoapLeave a comment

Inspired by polls including exit polls for early voters, and high early voter turnout, there is optimism among supporters of the Democrat party that they could win the presidential election and attain a majority in Congress.

But, predictions of Democrat success appear to be assuming that the variety of Republican voter suppression tactics will not affect the result. The Republican party used the last four years to develop its voter suppression techniques and, over the final few months of Trump’s (first?) tenure, they have ramped up the strategy.

The techniques in operation for the election this year include (among others):

Removal of voters from electoral roll for spurious reasons
Enforcement of dubious Voter ID requirements
Severe gerrymandering of districts
Closure of in-person voting locations in majority Democrat districts
Reduction of eligibility to vote by mail
Removal and banning of drop-boxes for mail-in ballots in majority Democrat districts
Spurious and random reasons for rejecting mail-in ballots
Deliberate delays in counting mail-in ballots so that count is not done before cut-off time
Physical destruction of counting machinery
Refusal to count mail-in votes that “arrive after November 3rd“
Spontaneous “failure” – technical or otherwise – at in-person voting locations when high turnout or long queue
Use of Covid-19 as spurious excuse to close in-person voting locations when high turnout or long queue
Computer “failures” that prevent or change votes at in-person voting locations
Police attacks on people walking to polling locations

Democrat party supporters express joy at long queues of voters waiting patiently to vote, some for several hours, but many people will be deterred from voting by such long queues and the longest queues are in majority Democrat districts.

Trump and his fellow Republican politicians make persistent false accusations of voter fraud including invented stories of multiple voting and made-up claims of ballots being thrown away. This tactic is intended as both a distraction and as a prepared excuse for legal challenges if Republicans don’t win.

The balance of power in the Supreme Court, coupled with the abject lack of integrity of recent arrivals therein, means any legal challenges by Republicans will succeed and any by Democrats will fail.

If Trump wins then voter suppression will have played a major role in his success. The prospect of that scenario is why any polls should not be taken as indicative.

Keir Starmer: The Bystander’s removal of politics from Labour

October 30, 2020November 1, 2020 ducksoap1 Comment

Immediately after publication of an unsurprising and unremarkable report by Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) following an investigation into antisemitism in the Labour party, Keir Starmer suspended Jeremy Corbyn’s membership of the party.

There was no justification for Corbyn’s suspension and Starmer bypassed all procedural processes. His suspension of Corbyn was entirely political and the decision to do so was made as soon as Starmer became leader of Labour. The timing of the suspension was opportunistic.

Starmer is desperate, very desperate, to appeal to conservatives (small ‘c’). This includes so-called “swing” voters, but his main desired audience members are newspapers proprietors and journalists, wealthy donors, think-tanks and the corporate world. He wants their support, their acclaim and, of course, for the donors, their money. He wants them to believe that he is a trustworthy advocate of maintaining the exploitative status quo.

Starmer is keen to prove that he is from the David Cameron/Nick Clegg mold of bland conservative leaders. His invented persona of The Bystander is intended to exude absence and abstention. He wants Labour to be anti-politics, to be a potential administration not a government. His goal is to make the exploitative elite feel comfortable and safe.

Opinions, passion, integrity, policy and vision are anathema to Starmer’s objectives as Labour leader. He won’t tolerate any of that behaviour. Even the normally-gormless Stephen Kinnock was chastised for daring to express an opinion.

The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn fitted Starmer’s strategy. The latter needs all of Labour to comply with his Bystander ethos. Obviously, Corbyn would never do that. Nor would some of his Labour colleagues. It is unlikely that Corbyn’s suspension will be the last opportunistic removal of a political Labour MP by Starmer.

Starmer stinks of death. On the other side of the House of Commons, the most corrupt government since Wellington’s in 1828 is driving the UK headlong into a destructive no deal Brexit hole while throwing billions of pounds at its corporate friends via Covid-19 contract awards. Johnson and his gang are destroying the country. It is precisely the time when political opposition is needed to save public infrastructure and to stop rampant theft, but Starmer’s Labour are opposed to opposition and are focussed on remaining still, disturbing nothing and saying nothing.

Corbyn’s suspension will not alter his work as an MP, in his constituency and in the House of Commons, and it will not change views people have of him whether supportive or not. It has allowed the Tories to move, momentarily, back from the centre of the news as Covid-19 deaths rise rapidly and Brexit “plans” are as ephemeral as ever. Undoubtedly, the EHRC’s timing for the publication of their report was considered carefully to distract from Tories’ calamitous decision-making.

Starmer is digging himself into a hole of compliance that will become increasingly more difficult to leave, but he probably won’t mind that.

BBC bans news staff from supporting anti-racism

October 30, 2020March 10, 2023 ducksoapLeave a comment

On Wednesday (October 28th 2020) BBC’s Director of Editorial Policy and Standards David Jordan instructed news and current affairs staff to not attend Black Lives Matter events if they wish to continue to be employed by the BBC.

This diktat from Jordan followed director-general Tim Davie’s statement in his introductory address to staff on 3rd September: “If you want to be an opinionated columnist or a partisan campaigner on social media then you should not be working at the BBC.”

Jordan has form. He doubled-down on BBC Complaint Unit’s support for a complaint made against Naga Munchetty regarding her entirely accurate comment about Donald Trump’s racism.

“The issue is about when she went on further to discuss President Trump himself, what his motivations were for that, and that breached our impartiality requirements. Our audiences should not be able to tell from BBC output the personal opinions of our journalists or current affairs presenters on matters of public policy, political, or industrial controversy.” – David Jordan, September 2019

Jordan didn’t want a member of staff to express the fact that she is opposed to racism. He asked for a neutral position. His stance on racism remains the same today.

Black Lives Matter is a political campaign and racism is a political issue. There are exactly two options to choose regarding racism: 1) Support anti-racism, or 2) be racist. To demand neutrality on racism is to support racism.

Jordan’s false neutrality demand is a facet of the BBC’s fear of upsetting prevailing political outlooks. It is fear of loss of charter as well as fear of losing viewers and listeners to far-right shockjock radio and TV channels like LBC, talkRadio and, next year, Andrew Neil’s GB News.

A feature of Davie’s aforementioned introductory speech to staff was a meaningless desire to find a new method of “impartiality.”

“We need to explore new ways of delivering impartiality, seeking a wider spectrum of views, pushing out beyond traditional political delineations and finding new voices from across the nation.”

The garbled nonsense above was a long-winded way of saying he doesn’t want politics to interfere with politics.

Of course, Davie’s aversion to politics doesn’t mean all politics. Any bloviating extreme-right grifter can be sure of a platform on a BBC news or current affairs show no matter how discredited or offensive their opinions.

BBC is shifting further right and further from sense. If Davie’s main objective is to destroy the BBC then he is progressing in that regard.

Davie was chair of Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative Association.

Related blogs
Tim Davie’s introductory speech to BBC staff
BBC and racism

BBC’s warped impartiality strikes again

October 26, 2020 ducksoapLeave a comment

During the broadcast of highlights of a Premier League game between Manchester United and Chelsea on Match of the Day on Saturday (October 24th), that featured Marcus Rashford who is leading a fine campaign to ensure all children have enough to eat, the commentator Guy Mowbray said

“whether you agree with Marcus Rashford’s causes or not, there’s surely only admiration for his continued commitment.”

The only who people disagree with Rashford’s aims are right-wing extremists who hate any social act. If Mowbray was not obligated to mention Rashford’s campaign during the commentary then he could have chosen to just commentate on the football match.

In response to criticism of his comments Mowbray suggested that “programme editors” directed him to make his decision to both-sides his comment on Marcus Rashford’s superb work rather than use intelligent judgement and simply praise Rashford without a caveat, and he claimed he could not have declined to say anything.

“Impartiality broadcast rules mean things have to be phrased a certain way. I tried to do that, having checked my original words in the morning with the programme editors. I had to chage them – it’s in the political arena so balance (however strange that may seem with some topics) is paramount. The first things I said were purely factual. The latter was wholesome praise of someone fighting a noble cause. That’s it. Couldn’t have done anymore. Shouldn’t have done any less.”

If Mowbray is given benefit of the doubt regarding flexibility or not of what he could say, his comment “the first things I said were purely factual” – some people disagreed with “Rashford’s causes” – showed that he and the editors of Match Of The Day were keen to value the opinions of dogmatic right-wing ideologues as equal in worth to opinions in support of feeding children. Mowbray emphasised his intent to evoke an all opinions have equal value approach by stating “impartiality broadcast rules mean things have to be phrased a certain way.”

BBC has a severe problem with its interpretation of impartiality. “Impartiality broadcast rules” do not demand that everything has to be countered by an opposing opinion. An interview with an astronaut does not need to be balanced by a representative of the Flat Earth Society, a debate on racism does not need to be balanced by the opinion of a racist, and an appreciation of Marcus Rashford’s efforts to ensure children can eat does not need to be balanced by the views of people who couldn’t give a damn if children starve.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie, like his immediate predecessor Tony Hall, prefers a parody of impartiality.

Tony Hall, March 2019: “Making sure all sides of a debate are heard – all different views and voices – is fundamental to our mission.”

Tim Davie, September 2020: “We need to explore new ways of delivering impartiality, seeking a wider spectrum of views, pushing out beyond traditional political delineations and finding new voices from across the nation.”

They mock impartiality by turning it into a rigid, simple philosophy wherein nothing is wrong and nothing is right. This approach negates intelligence and inspection of ideas. It ruins analytical thought. The broadcaster, the BBC, becomes an unthinking vessel, a useless empty beaker. For the viewer, knowledge is not imparted. Emotionally, the BBC’s strategy is an eraser.

Mowbray and his editors followed the guidelines. Automatons behaving as coded is what Davie wants from BBC staff: “If you want to be an opinionated columnist or a partisan campaigner then you should not be working at the BBC.”

(Davie was chair of Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative Association.)

This is out of context

October 25, 2020October 25, 2020 ducksoapLeave a comment

There is an episode of long-running popular animated sit-com The Simpsons centring on the Warholian fifteen minutes of fame acquired by main protagonist Bart Simpson that stems from his use of the phrase “I didn’t do it” whenever his actions cause a minor calamity.

His fleeting fame is based on the repeated humourous scenario of him nonchalantly denying culpability, despite it being almost certain, because there exists the smallest possibility that guilt cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Matt Groening and his colleagues wrote the episode before camera phones were commonplace and before CCTV cameras were omnipresent. If they were to write the episode today Bart would be convicted of any acts of bad behaviour immediately.

A remake of The Simpsons episode made today would choose a different phrase as its comedic hook. Instead of “I didn’t do it” Bart would exclaim “it was out of context.” For example, if Bart’s mother Marge were to scream “Bart! You burnt the house down” Bart would reply with “you are taking my actions out of context” before inviting his mother to consume an item of his clothing.

The Out Of Context retort to a demonstrably provable accusation succeeds because it negates immediately evidence of accusers’ eyes or ears. By invoking Out Of Context a perpetrator does not deny that a conspicuous act occurred or specific words were written or spoken, and does not deny her or his ownership of the act or words, but directs observers away from deduced presumption of guilt of wrongdoing.

out-of-context

Out Of Context causes accusers to switch to considering proof of context. As context to damn the culprit is almost always obvious, accusers’ frustration at the culprit’s mendacious obfuscation ensues. Inevitably, this leads to a lessening of the intellectual level of any exchange, to the advantage of the culprit.

Politicians, political writers, professional talking heads and reputation management lawyers are frequent users of Out Of Context when their opinions or analyses are shown to be unambiguously misguided or false. By choosing Out Of Context they can avoid supporting what they said and, simultaneously, avoid accepting what they said to be worthy of explanation or apology. It is cowardly and dishonest but effective.

Recent (October 2020) use of Out Of Context invocations included behaviour of Tory MPs when confronted about their comments following the Tories’ rejection of a Labour bill in the House of Commons that sought to ensure children are fed. Responding to criticism of the decision to vote against children, several Tory MPs published statements to clarify their stance and to refute observations of ideological cruelty. Composed hurriedly, carelessly and with conceit of social detachment, their statements contained brash ill-thought remarks that were pounced upon provoking Out Of Context claims from the MPs.

For example, Selaine Saxby, Tory MP for North Devon, in reference to the fact that many small businesses offered to help Marcus Rashford and his colleagues by providing food free of charge to be distributed to children in lieu of free school meals, said

“I am delighted our local businesses have bounced back so much after lockdown they are able to give away food for free, and very much hope they will not be seeking any further government support.”

The sarcasm and the threat of no further “support,” either as furlough payments or as central government assistance to local councils, were criticised and rightly so. Saxby countered such criticism with a second statement that began

“The portrayal of my recent comments, out of context, does not accurately convey my views.”

The (il)logical sequence of the Saxby event was she made specific comments in a self-contained statement to which retorts were written entirely within the specificity of her comments and entirely within their context in the self-contained statement, and she responded by invoking Out Of Context.

On the same issue – Tory MPs’ failure to support children in a House of Commons vote – Mansfield’s Tory MP Ben Bradley said

“At one school in Mansfield 75% of children have a social worker, 25% of parents are illiterate. One child lives in a crack den, another in a brothel.”

When a political supporter of Bradley responded to the above with “£20 cash direct to a crack den or brothel really sounds like the way forward with this one,” Bradley agreed: “That is what free school meal vouchers in the summer effectively did.”

That is, Bradley claimed free school meal vouchers were used directly to finance crack dens and brothels. What he said was clear and the context was clear and self-contained.

Labour MP Angela Rayner noted what Bradley had said: “A Conservative MP has said that free school meals are effectively a direct payment to brothels and drug dealers,” to which Bradley exclaimed, directly to Rayner, “please remove this nonsense. If the context is not clear, I will clarify, but thats 100% NOT what I’ve said.” But, Rayner’s account was of precisely what Bradley had said and the only context was the context of him saying it.

Bizarrely, Bradley’s published response to Rayner included a screenshot of his initial comments (quoted above), thus proving the indisputable accuracy of what she said: Bradley retorts.

Both examples above are typical of how Out Of Context is a tool of distraction even when it is embarrassingly easy to show how in context statements are.

Out Of Context is a contemptuous response to criticism. It is intended to momentarily confuse observers and to wobble the focus of attention but its sheer shamelessness is intentionally derisory. In particular, Tories use it to display their lack of respect for opponents and their disdain for integrity.

Protecting corruption is Tory party’s ideological priority

October 24, 2020 ducksoap1 Comment

Elections in democratic countries present a meek choice for voters between two parties, one of which offers more public spending and the other offers lower taxes. Traditionally, conservative parties support lower taxation and lower public spending. More accurately, they offer reductions in public services and claim lower taxes will be a happy consequence of the cuts.

The Tory party dispensed with its manufactured persona as a conservative (spend less, tax less) party a few years ago. Brexit dominated its campaign strategy in 2015, 2017 and 2109 elections with mixed success. In late 2020, extremist ideology drives its decisions as a means of protecting rancid corruption and concomitant theft of public infrastructure and money.

Brexit provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the biggest theft of public resources in the history of British democracy bettered only by the scramble for unearned wealth by oligarchs assisted by drunkard Yeltsin immediately after the abandonment of the Soviet Union.

Most of the Tories’ planned Brexit asset-stripping is yet to happen but their preparations for it include facilitatory changes to the law. Resulting from bills passed through parliament such as Covert Human Intelligence Sources and Internal Markets bills, new laws will restrict protest – physical and written – via removal of rights and restrict access to legal redress.

Pre-Brexit, billions of pounds are being stolen from the public through the Tories’ awards of contracts to hundreds of businesses supposedly for services and products to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the contracts do not assist management of the pandemic and all contracts have a huge disparity between award cost and the value of the product or service provided. Tories use a ruse to bypass tendering and inspection of the contract awards and they delay legally-obligated publication of award details.

The Covid-19 contracts scandal is a demonstration of why the Tories are in government. It is endgame capitalism. Normally, capitalism seeks to perpetuate itself but the Tories think nothing of the political future. Consequences of their actions are absent from consideration. They intend to persist as long as possible as a fake government and dissipate when necessary.

The rancid corruption must be protected. New laws will help to keep it free from interference but it is important that the Tories are seen to be unbendingly focussed and immovable on policy. If they submit once to persuasion to change then they would expose themselves to demands for change on all their decisions because everything they are doing is demonstrably wrong. They must hold firm on everything regardless of how useless, warped or cruel it is.

Thus, when Labour asked for support in the House of Commons for financial help for families whose income had been damaged by Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions, the Tories voted Labour’s bill down (with the exception of five Tory MPs who voted in favour of it).

The Tory refusal to support Labour’s bill wasn’t an economic decision. Billions wasted on corrupt Covid-19 contract awards showed that the government can extract funds whenever it likes. Tories couldn’t support the bill because of their necessity to never admit to any doubts; one transgression from false certainty of their decision-making would cause a collapse.

The Tories have no interest in governance. Their purpose is to feed public funds to the already absurdly wealthy. To protect that single policy, they need an ideology of unwavering blinkered adherence to absence of acceptance of criticism. This ideology is not rooted in political or economic theory. Its foundation is fear.

Mansfield MP Ben Bradley chose to be the poster boy for Tories’ anti-child philosophy and its response to criticism. Bradley enjoys being the gob and he has no reputation to preserve. In an increasingly nonsensical series of exclamations yesterday Bradley attacked footballer Marcus Rashford, children, parents, schools and councils. He has a record of speaking before engaging his brain and then lying about what he said, and then lying about the lying; that is, he suits the requirements of the Tories’ response to criticism.

Bradley epitomises Tory ideology of never admitting anything said, done or proposed is problematic. Just keep going, keep lying, keep attacking; protect rampant corruption.

“At one school in Mansfield [Bradley’s constituency] 75% of children have a social worker, 25% of parents are illiterate. Their estate is the centre of the area’s crime. One child lives in a crack den, another in a brothel. These are the kids that most need our help; extending free school meals doesn’t reach these kids. [£20 cash direct to a crack den and brothel] is what free school meal vouchers in the summer effectively did.” – Ben Bradley MP, October 23rd

In the outburst quoted above the fabrication and absurdity of Bradley’s claims are deliberately ridiculous. He abided by a policy of relentless unashamed drivel with never an iota of circumspection.

It is correct to accuse Tories of stupidity and recklessness and it is equally correct to accuse them of cruelty but driving their decisions and accompanying ineluctability is ideology and motivating that ideology is protection of their sole aim: Feed the wealthy.

Covid-19 is a billion pound industry of Tory corruption

October 21, 2020October 22, 2023 ducksoap1 Comment

The only consistent action taken by the Tory government during the Covid pandemic is the perpetual handover of billions of pounds to private businesses under the pretext of the businesses providing support for management of and response to the pandemic’s effects. Contracts with the businesses are awarded without tendering and signed without parliamentary inspection.

Many of the businesses have no relevant experience of working in healthcare. Those with relevant experience are private healthcare companies that exist to profit from ill health; their use is a facet of the government’s privatisation of health provision.

Some are small businesses with a handful of staff and little current activity, some were created this year, and some have direct financial connections to Tory politicians and/or to donors to the Tory party.

Below is a list of contracts awarded to private businesses for work related directly to the Covid-19 pandemic. For each business the total cost of contracts awarded and the specifics of the service provided are stated, and there are notes with details about each business’ services or products and its connections, if any, to the Tory party.

The list is far from complete. It will be updated whenever details of existing contracts are known or when new contracts are awarded for businesses already on the list or for others.

All the contracts listed below are non-tendered. That includes first contracts for a business and updated or additional contracts for a business that previously received a non-tendered contract.

The government (and other public bodies) are required by law to abide by UK Public Procurement Regulations when awarding contracts to private businesses but can bypass the regulations in situations of “extreme urgency.” Law firm Ashurst has a concise account of circumstances in which tendering can be eschewed: Ashurst on procurement.

It is clear the Tories abused the procurement regulations’ exceptions in order to award contracts to whom they choose.

For any non-tendered contract the government must publish details of it within thirty days. The Tories failed persistently to do this and were forced to comply with the thirty day rule when sued by The Good Law Project. Many contracts remain unpublished.

A common feature of many of the contracts is that the recipient acts merely as middle man, recruitment or contractor for other businesses. Many are just ordering personal protective equipment from a supplier; it is unclear why a government department or a hospital would not be able to order such equipment directly.

Hundreds of millions of pounds has been awarded to management consultancy businesses and auditors, most of whom had previously had contracts with various government departments. The consultancies and auditors do little more than staff recruitment or subcontract the work required, while creaming off huge profits for themselves.

Ventilator challenge
Several engineering companies were invited to design and/or develop new ventilators for hospitals. Some of these companies are listed below. The government outlined its aim in Government Ventilator Challenge.

Fourteen thousand ventilators were built as part of Ventilator Challenge but, due to changes in how patients are treated, none are likely to be needed even if the number of Covid-19 cases rises significantly.

Nightingale Hospitals
Seven new temporary hospitals were built to cater for Covid-19 patients with a total patient capacity of nearly thirteen thousand. Just over one hundred and fifty Covid-19 patients were treated at two of the hospitals – none at the others – before all seven were re-purposed (treating cancer patients), stood down or put on standby.

Forty patients were refused entry to a Nightingale hospital due to a lack of critical care nurses.

Combined costs for seven Nightingale Hospitals:

Set up costs: £220,000,000
Monthly running costs: £12,000,000

Recommended reading
The Good Law Project monitors, investigates, challenges and exposes the shenanigans of the Tories’ Covid-19 contracts.
Open Democracy has many reports and investigations of contract awards.
Sam Bright has written several articles for Byline on Covid-19 contracts.
We Own It published an excellent paper: Privatised and Unprepared: The NHS Supply Chain.
Sophie Hill produced an interactive map of connections between Tory politicians, recipients of Covid-19 contracts and associated individuals and lobby groups: My Little Crony

Other articles worth reading include
Peter Blackburn for BMA
Mark Thomas for 99%
Consultancy.org
Rachael Cousins: Cashing In On Covid
Emma Youle for Huffington Post
Anthony Robinson for Yorkshire Bylines
Henry Goodwin for London Economic
George Monbiot for Guardian (July)
George Monbiot for Guardian (October)
Stephen for Christian Voice

Covid-19 non-tendered contracts list

List of private businesses awarded non-tendered contracts for work related to management of and response to Covid-19 pandemic:

Name: Ayanda Capital Ltd
Business: Currency trading, offshore property, and private equity and trade financing
Registration: Mauritius (tax haven)
Contract: Face masks and gowns for hospitals
Cash: £252,500,000
Notes: Special adviser Andrew Mills is also adviser to Board of Trade.
The contract was originally for Prospermill Limited, owned by Andrew Mills, that had never filed any accounts and has next to no assets nor any products.
A batch of face masks supplied by Ayanda, valued at £150,000,000, were found to be of no use for the NHS due to invalid fastenings.
The Good Law Project asked for a judicial review of the Ayanda contract and Ayanda responded by sending a £40,000 legal bill to Good Law Project for alleged preparatory costs for any subsequent case.
The Good Law Project estimated that, given disparity between the cost of face masks and the unit price agreed in the contract, Ayanda’s profit on the contract could be as high as £166,000,000. That is, 66% of the contract would be cash in the pocket of Ayanda.
Website: Ayanda Capital

Name: Beijing Union Glory Investment Co. Limited
Business: Import and export of medical machinery
Registration: China
Contract: Surgical gowns
Cash: £96,300,000
Notes: The business address of Beijing Union Glory Investment Co. Limited is a hotel room.

Name: Freud Communication
Business: PR and reputation management
Registration: UK
Contract: Reputation management of Serco Test and Trace
Cash: £55,015
Notes: Founder of Freud Communication, Matthew Freud, is a son-in-law of Rupert Murdoch and is a close friend of David Cameron and George Osborne.
Website: Freud Communication

Name: Arcadis
Business: Consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice on procurement of property for management of Covid pandemic
Cash: £1,500,000
Notes: Former Tory MP, former Chief of Staff to then prime minister Theresa May and current Tory peer Gavin Barwell is a non-executive adviser at Arcadis.
Website: Arcadis

Name: Dragontown Limited
Business: Ventilators
Registration: UK
Contract: Ventilators, bedside monitors and modules, examination gloves, disposable sterile and non-sterile gowns, eye shields and goggles, FFP3 masks and reusable respirators
Cash: £29,230,659
Notes: Majority owner of Dragontown Limited, Xuelin Bates, donated £30,000 to the Tory party. She is married to Tory peer, former Tory MP and former government whip Michael Bates.

Name: Admiral Associates
Business: PR and marketing strategy
Registration: UK
Contract: Public relations and communications management for head of vaccines taskforce Kate Bingham
Cash: £670,000
Website: Admiral Associates

Name: Aventis Solutions
Business: Employment agency
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks, face visors, hand sanitiser
Cash: £18,480,000
Notes: Most recent accounts declaration (prior to acquiring the contract) stated the net assets of Aventis Solutions to be £322.
Online orders are unavailable (see website).
Website: Aventis Solutions

Name: Crunch Craving
Business: Chocolate, confectionary, nut and coffee products
Registration: UK
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £108,000,000
Notes: Director Nick Walker is named as a trustee of OneSchool Global UK Knockloughrim Campus which is part of Focus Learning Trust which is part of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church that has campaigned for the Tories in elections in exchange for MPs’ support for it to regain its charitable status.
Website: Crunch Craving

Name: CoverZone
Business: Car covers and accessories
Registration: UK
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £783,100

Name: Double Dragon International Ltd
Business: Wholesale of coffee, tea, cocoa and spices
Registration: UK
Contract: Medical and surgical face masks
Cash: £2,150,000
Notes: Double Dragon’s website’s About page has not been updated from a test page written in lorem ipsum.
Website: Double Dragon

Name: Slaughter And May
Business: Legal advice to businesses
Registration: UK
Contract: Legal advice to Cabinet Office
Cash: £950,000
Notes: Slaughter And May was paid £6.800,000 by Carillion in the eighteen months leading up to the latter’s liquidation including £1,190,000 three days before liquidation.
Website: Slaughter And May

Name: Cornwall Development Company: Enterprise Space for Advanced Manufacturing
Business: Business park
Registration: UK
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £1,330,000
Notes: Cornwall Development Company is a private business set-up by Cornwall Council; Conservatives are the largest block in Cornwall Council.
Website: Cornwall Development Council: ESAM

Name: Euthenia Investments
Business: Fund manager
Registration: UK
Contract: Coveralls
Cash: £880,000
Website: Euthenia Investments

Name: Initia Ventures
Business: Business support service activities
Registration: UK
Contract: Isolation suits
Cash: £48,840,000
Notes: Initia Ventures was a dormant company at the start of 2020

Name: Saiger LLC
Business: Fashion accessories
Registration: USA
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £219,164,640.45
Notes: Saiger invented a company Laif.Works in late April 2020 as a means to apply for Covid-19 contracts in USA and UK.
Saiger paid £21,000,000 to businessman Gabriel Gonzalez Andersson to procure PPE.
Website: Laif.Works

Name: KAU Media Group
Business: Digital Marketing Agency
Registration: UK
Contract: Apron, gowns, masks and coveralls
Cash: £40,482,250
Website: KAU Media Group

Name: KPM Marine Ltd
Business: Safety equipment for boats
Registration: UK
Contract: Aprons
Cash: £960,000
Website: KPM Marine Ltd

Name: MGP Advisory Ltd
Business: Venture Capital
Registration: UK
Contract: Goggles, gowns and gloves
Cash: £825,000
Notes: MGP was nearly struck off the companies register for failing to file accounts.

Name: Monarch Acoustic Ltd
Business: Manufacture of office and shop furniture
Registration: UK
Contract: Surgical sterile gowns
Cash: £28,800,000
Website: Monarch Acoustics

Name: Myshipper Ltd
Business: Importing of goods from China
Registration: UK
Contract: Goggles and face shields
Cash: £15,002,300
Website: Myshipper Ltd

Name: Ocean Footprint Ltd
Business: Equipment for boats
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £5,190,000
Notes: The face masks listed on the website are not medical face masks; they are for industrial use, mainly used in dusty environments in the workplace.
Website: Ocean Footprint Ltd

Name: P1F Ltd
Business: Investment in real estate
Registration: UK
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £738,920

Name: Pestfix Ltd
Business: Animal pest control
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £33,136,000
Notes: Pestfix’s only Covid-19 product for sale is a pack of fifty disposable face masks plus small bottle of sanitiser for £40.50. At the same price, the contract awarded would buy 134 million face masks and 6.28 million bottles of sanitiser.
Website: PestFix Ltd

Name: Polystar Plastics Ltd
Business: Polythene packaging
Registration: UK
Contract: Disposable aprons
Cash: £26,376,140
Website: Polystar Plastics Ltd

Name: Sumner Group Health Ltd
Business: Health professionals recruitment
Registration: UK
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £23,899,000
Website: Sumner Group Health Ltd

Name: Southgate Packaging Ltd
Business: Packaging
Registration: UK
Contract: Packaging of Covid-19 test kits
Cash: £217,910
Website: Southgate Packaging Ltd

Name: Sovereign Business Solutions Group Ltd
Business: Office supplies
Registration: UK
Contract: Sanitising stations
Cash: £1,250,000
Website: Sovereign Office

Name: Springfield Supplies And Projects Ltd
Business: School and office supplies and furniture
Registration: UK
Contract: Hand sanitiser, masks, shields, screens and signage
Cash: £428,000
Website: Springfield Supplies And Projects Ltd

Name: Survitec Group Ltd
Business: Safety equipment for marine industry
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £31,166,276
Website: Survitec Group Ltd

Name: Biosana Health
Business: Medical equipment and technologies, and medical consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Masks, overalls, respirators and face shields
Cash: £3,894,269.77
Website: Biosana Health

Name: Tara Mobile Ltd
Business: Phone technology
Registration: UK
Contract: Forehead thermometers
Cash: £800,000
Website: Tara Mobiles Ltd

Name: Toffeln Ltd
Business: Specialist footwear
Registration: UK
Contract: Visors, gowns, goggles, masks, respirators and ventilators
Cash: £60,528,318
Notes: Toffeln’s Qwirki’s 800 Crocs Style Clogs were sold as personal protection equipment but were found to not provide protection against penetration by sharp objects through the sole.
Charlie Leflaive, director of Toffeln, is a trustee of Greenfield Gospel Hall Trust which is part of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church that has campaigned for the Tories in elections in exchange for MPs’ support for it to regain its charitable status.
Website: Toffeln Ltd

Name: Tower Supplies
Business: Safety workwear
Registration: UK
Contract: Coveralls
Cash: £40,500,000
Notes: Approximately 25% of products in the contracts were flagged as ‘Do Not Supply’ by health service due to being defective and/or unusable.
In 2018 Tory MP Michelle Donelan (now a minister in government) raised a question in parliament about Tower Supplies and contract awards – not related to Covid. She described the director of the company as “a constituent of mine” – it was her uncle.
Website: Tower Supplies

Name: Trade Market Direct Limited
Business: Procurement of products for government departments
Registration: UK
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £3,832,500
Notes: Director Garry Morrill was the director and judicial representative of three gambling companies registered in Malta, 2 Bet Malta Limited, Quickflutter.com Limited, and World Betting (Malta) Limited, according to the Panama Papers.
Website: Trade Markets Direct Limited

Name: Uniserve Ltd
Business: International transportation and distribution of goods
Registration: UK
Contract: Import of personal protective equipment (gowns, face shields, masks, goggles and aprons) from China
Cash: £841,255,310
Notes: Uniserve’s owner and founder Iain Liddell is a speaker for pro-Brexit lobby group Prosperity UK alongside several Tory MPs and members of right-wing think-tanks.
Website: Uniserve Ltd

Name: Unisol
Business: Hygiene products for public toilets
Registration: UK
Contract: Hand sanitisers and sanitiser dispensers
Cash: £810,000
Website: Unisol

Name: Urathon
Business: Disability aids
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £74,680,000
Notes: All of Urathon’s products are imported from China
Website: Urathon

Name: Lf Fashion
Business: Clothing
Registration: UK
Contract: Gowns and face shields
Cash: £6,375,000
Website: Lf Fashion

Name: VitalCare Trading UK Limited
Business: Medical products related to urinary issues
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £27,200,000
Website: VitalCare Trading UK Limited

Name: Medicine Box Ltd
Business: Surgical clothing
Registration: UK
Contract: Coveralls
Cash: £40,000,000
Notes: The most recent accounts report prior to being awarded the contract listed Medicine Box’s assets as £6,141.
Website: Medicine Box Ltd

Name: Unispace Global Health
Business: Hygiene equipment and cleaning products for the workplace
Registration: UK
Contract: Coveralls, gloves, face masks
Cash: £679,530,090
Notes: Director Garth Woodcock is also a director of Oska Care Limited.
Major shareholder Gary Hale is a member of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church that has campaigned for the Tories in elections in exchange for MPs’ support for it to regain its charitable status. Hale is the son of the world leader of the church.
Coveralls were imported from China and were manufactured in North Korea.
Website: Unispace Global Health

Name: Oska Care Limited
Business: Furniture for care homes
Registration: UK
Contract: Face shields, beds and mattresses
Cash: £338,000
Notes: Director Garth Woodcock is also a director of Unispace.
Director Gary Critchley is also a director of Plymouth Brethren Christian Church Limited that has campaigned for the Tories in elections in exchange for MPs’ support for it to regain its charitable status.
Website: Oska Care Limited

Name: Techniclean Supply Limited
Business: Cleaning and hygiene products
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £20,000,000
Notes: Former director Timothy Browning is also a director of Wilton Park School which is run and owned by Plymouth Brethren Christian Church Limited that has campaigned for the Tories in elections in exchange for MPs’ support for it to regain its charitable status.
Website: Techniclean Supply Ltd

Name: Blueleaf Ltd
Business: Organisational advice for care homes
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £4,000,000
Website: Blueleaf Ltd

Name: Denka UK Ltd
Business: Dental supplies and implants
Registration: UK
Contract: Gowns, face masks, wipes, disinfectant, respirators, gloves
Cash: £395,190
Website: Denka UK Ltd

Name: Accora Ltd
Business: Furniture for care homes
Registration: UK
Contract: Hospital beds
Cash: £248,000
Notes: Director Samuel Drake is also a director of Onebus Limited which is a passenger transport service for educational charities that run schools within the Focus Group of schools that are owned and run by Plymouth Brethren Christian Church Limited that has campaigned for the Tories in elections in exchange for MPs’ support for it to regain its charitable status.
Website: Accora Ltd

Name: Medco Solutions
Business: Surgical instruments
Registration: UK
Contract: Aprons, visors and face masks
Cash: £84,040,000
Notes: Director Ross Robertson is a trustee of Fulmer Education Trust, part of the One School Global Network that is owned and run by Plymouth Brethren Christian Church Limited that has campaigned for the Tories in elections in exchange for MPs’ support for it to regain its charitable status.
Website: Medco Solutions

Name: Topham Guerin
Business: Digital marketing advice
Registration: UK
Contract: Government Covid-19 digital communications
Cash: £3,000,000
Notes: Topham Guerin worked on the Tory party 2019, the (Australian) Liberal party 2019 and the (New Zealand) National party 2017 general election campaigns.
Topham Guerin’s contribution to the Tory party election campaign included fraudulent misnaming of the Tory party twitter account as a fact checking account and a fraudulent website claiming to host the Labour party manifesto.
Co-founder Tom Guerin was a special guest at the 2019 Friedman Conference hosted by Australian Libertarian Society and Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance.
Tom Guerin and co-founder Sean Topham consulted for CTF Partners, a communications company run by Lynton Crosby, whose clients included Glencore, Saudi Arabian Government and anti-cycling groups.
Website: Topham Guerin

Name: Clipper Logistics
Business: Warehousing, storage and transport of goods
Registration: UK
Contract: Supply chain and warehousing for personal protective equipment (see link below)
Cash: £1,300,000
Notes: In March employees accused Clipper Logistics of putting people’s lives at risk through a lack of social distancing in their warehouses.
In April Clipper Logistics announced a rise in profits of 18.9%.
Director Steven Parkin has donated £750,000 to the Tory party.
Website: Clipper Logistics Ltd, Clipper Logistics supply chain

Name: Europa Worldwide Group
Business: Transportation and warehousing
Registration: UK
Contract: Transportation of face masks, hand sanitiser and hospital beds
Cash: <unknown>
Notes: Managing director Andrew Baxter donated £10,000 to Boris Johnson in 2019, and in 2016 Johnson used a Europa Worldwide Group warehouse site as a location to launch his contribution to the campaign to leave the EU.
Website: Europe Worldwide Group

Name: Globus
Business: Personal protective equipment for industry and healthcare
Registration: UK
Contract: Respirator face masks
Cash: £93,709,500
Notes: Globus donated over £400,000 to the Tory party before the contract was assigned.
Website: Globus

Name: Taeg Energy
Business: Production of electricity
Registration: UK
Contract: Hand sanitiser and sanitiser dispensers
Cash: £47,962,000
Notes: Taeg Energy is listed as dormant at Companies House.

Name: Excalibur Healthcare Services
Business: Personal protective equipment
Registration: UK
Contract: Mechanical respirators
Cash: £135,475,000
Website: Excalibur Healthcare Services

Name: Hanbury Strategy
Business: Public relations and communications for businesses and political parties
Registration: UK
Contract: Data research related to Covid-19
Cash: £648,000
Notes: Partner Ameet Gill was Chief Speechwriter, Director of Strategic Communications and Director of Strategy for David Cameron.
Partner Paul Stephenson was Director of Communications for Vote Leave and Special Adviser to Philip Hammond and to Andrew Lansley.
Partner Lizzie Loudon was Press Secretary to Theresa May and Special Adviser to Iain Duncan Smith.
Director Oliver Lewis was Director of Research for Vote Leave and Director Of Research for Matthew Elliot’s Business For Britain, and worked for New Schools Network.
Director Olivia Robley was Head of Political Section at Conservative Campaign Headquarters.
Executive Robert Littleton worked at Institute Of Economic Affairs and DWP.
Executive Joseph Slater worked at Bright Blue.
Executive Conor Higgins was a Communications Officer at Vote Leave.
Website: Hanbury Strategy

Name: Public First
Business: Research for political policy
Registration: UK
Contract: Focus group research on Covid-19
Cash: £840,000
Notes: The contract was issued without tendering because it was classified as related to Covid-19 and, therefore, an emergency, but over £200,000 was used by Public First for Brexit-related research.
Founding partner James Frayne worked with Dominic Cummings on Business For Sterling and they co-founded New Frontiers Foundation, and he was Director of Communications at the Department for Education when Michael Gove was Education Secretary.
Founding partner Rachel Wolf was a Special Adviser to Michael Gove and she ran the New Schools Network.
Partner Gabriel Milland was Head of Communications at the Department for Education when Michael Gove was Education Secretary.
Website: Public First

Name: Platform 14 Medical Limited
Business: Pain management medical devices
Registration: UK
Contract: Face shields and gowns
Cash: £276,496,968
Notes: The most recent accounts report for Platform 14 prior to receipt of first contract showed liabilities exceeding assets by almost half a million pounds and banked assets of £145.
Director Stephen Machan is a Tory councillor. A few months after the contract was awarded he bought a new house costing £1,500,000.
Website: Platform 14 Medical Limited

Name: KPMG
Business: Organisational consultancy for businesses
Registration: UK
Contract: Organisation of construction of Nightingale hospitals
Cash: £923,000
Notes: The Tories refused to publish details of any contracts related to the construction of Nightingale hospitals despite being required to do so by law.
Chris Townsend (former Commercial Director for LOCOG) was appointed Head of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare at KPMG a few weeks before he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the (Covid) Shielding Programme by the government.
Website: KPMG

Name: Zenith Guild Enterprises Limited
Business: Property investment
Registration: UK or Nigeria
Contract: Face masks, gloves, gowns, thermometers, sanitiser and sanitiser dispensers and booths
Cash: £21,890,000
Notes: Zenith Guild Enterprises Limited is part of Zenith Guild Group with same registered address in London. However, Zenith Guild Group website lists Zenith Guild Enterprises Limited as based in Nigeria and the latter’s website consists entirely of PPE stock for sale.
Zenith Guild Enterprises Limited (UK) is listed as being overdue with declaration of its accounts.
Website: Zenith Guild Group, Zenith Guild PPE and Masks

Name: DTC Consulting Limited
Business: Advises businesses on how best to attain ISO standards
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £2,500,000
Notes: DTC Consulting Limited was nearly struck off in 2019
Website: DTC Consulting Limited

Name: Randox Laboratories Limited
Business: Medical testing
Registration: UK
Contract: Analysis of covid tests and supply of swab test kits
Cash: £479,500,000
Notes: In July use of Randox swab test kits was suspended after they failed.
Tory MP Owen Paterson is a consultant for Randox
Website: Randox Laboratories

Name: Chemical Intelligence Limited
Business: Antimicrobial technology
Registration: UK
Contract: Gowns and face masks
Cash: £130,905,000
Website: Chemical Intelligence Limited

Name: Serco
Business: Facilities management
Registration: UK
Contract: Management of Test and Trace at a call centre, and contact centre for vulnerable people
Cash: £608,000,000
Notes: Most of the contracts awarded to Serco were not published by the government.
Serco subcontracted Concentrix for its Covid-19 contracts who, when managing the Tax Credits system, lost the contract after 87% of appeals against its decisions were upheld.
Serco subcontracted two debt recovery businesses, NCO Europe and Arvato, for its Covid-19 contracts .
Serco subcontracted a travel agent, Hays Travel, to provide some of the test and trace service.
In the first four months or operation nearly 40% of contacts were missed in the test and trace system.
There were delays of over two hours at drive-in Covid-19 test centres managed by Serco for NHS staff.
A subcontractor hired by Serco on a (non-Covid-19) government contract, AGO Outsourcing, demanded that employees sign a waiver absolving AGO of liability if employees caught Covid-19 because they were required to work closer to each other than social-distance guidelines.
Serco repaid over £68,000,000 in pre-court settlements with the Serious Fraud Office after it overcharged the government for electronic tagging.
Serco’s breast-cancer screening hotline was run by call handlers with only one hour’s training.
Guards employed by Serco at Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre were sacked after sexual relations with detainees.
Serco was fined £3,000,000 for failing to maintain homes it administered for asylum seekers.
At St. Thomas’ hospital’s pathology laboratory, run by Serco, over four hundred clinical errors were made.
Serco accidently published email addresses of three hundred contact tracers.
Serco withdrew from a government contract to supply out-of-hours GP services after it falsified data.
Tory Minister of State in the Department for Health and Social Care Edward Argar is former Head of Public Affairs at Serco.
Serco’s CEO, Rupert Soames, is the brother of former Tory MP Nicholas Soames.
In an email to Serco staff Rupert Soames stated that “if Test and Trace succeeds it will go a long way in cementing the position of the private sector companies in the public sector supply chain.”
Serco director Sue Owen was previously Permanent Secretary for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and director-general of the Department for Work and Pensions.
Website: Serco

Name: Eggplant Software
Business: Test software
Registration: UK
Contract: Software to test Covid contact app
Cash: £213,600
Website: Eggplant Software

Name: Circular 1 Health
Business: Testing laboratories, test kits and biosecurity
Registration: UK
Contract: Testing facility for Covid-19
Cash: £250,000
Website: Circular 1 Health

Name: Stone Computers Limited
Business: Computer supplier
Registration: UK
Contract: Laptops for Test and Trace teams
Cash: £980,908
Website: Stone Group

Name: R Studio
Business: Software
Registration: UK
Contract: Organisational software for Test and Trace
Cash: £29,248.37
Website: R Studio

Name: Kainos Software Limited
Business: Software
Registration: UK
Contract: Support software for Test and Trace
Cash: £6,725,228
Website: Kainos

Name: Egon Zehnder
Business: Executive recruitment
Registration: UK
Contract: Supply of executives for Test and Trace management
Cash: £122,000
Website: Egon Zehnder

Name: MBS Group
Business: Executive recruitment
Registration: UK
Contract: Supply of executives for Test and Trace management
Cash: £122,000
Website: MBS Group

Name: Baringa Partners LLP
Business: Management consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice on commercial support for Test and Trace
Cash: £867,000
Website: Baringa Partners LLP

Name: BMNT LTD
Business: Digital consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Assistance with web pages for Test and Trace
Cash: £41,499
Website: BMNT LTD

Name: Capita PLC
Business: Management consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Consultancy for management of Test and Trace
Cash: £120,250
Notes: The contract was for one member of staff for three months; that equated to a daily pay rate of £1,822, assuming a five-day working week.
Website: Capita PLC

Name: Mobidiag UK Ltd
Business: Molecular diagnostics of diseases
Registration: UK
Contract: Tests for Covid-19 infection
Cash: £930,000
Website: Mobidiag UK Ltd

Name: Oxford Nanopore
Business: DNA sequencing
Registration: UK
Contract: Test kits assay, reagents, training material and support
Cash: £27,996,352
Website: Oxford Nanopore

Name: Deloitte
Business: Audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and legal services
Registration: UK
Contract: Financial advice for acquiring and organising contracts, and sourcing of companies for contracts; logistics for Covid-19 test centres
Cash: £24,458,300
Notes: Many businesses, particularly in the clothing industry, contacted Deloitte to offer to supply personal protective clothing but found the process to be too slow and contacted hospitals directly instead.
Deloitte’s hourly rates for supply of employees (not the actual salary of the employees) for government contracts are several multiples of the rates that are paid to similarly employed public service staff.
Deloitte advised businesses throughout the continent of Africa to structure their investments through Mauritius in order to greatly reduce their tax bills.
Deloitte paid $210,000,000 in a pre-court settlement to investors of Adelphia Communications that had gone bankrupt after several years of being audited by Deloitte.
Deloitte was ordered to pay $40,425,000 (Canadian dollars) in damages for its negligence in auditing Livent when it went into receivership.
When auditor of Standard Chartered, Deloitte paid an $8,000,000 pre-court settlement related to money-laundering allegations.
Deloitte was fined £4,500,000 by the Financial Reporting Council for failing to properly audit the accounts of a Serco subsidiary, Serco Geografix.
Deloitte was auditor for Carillion when the latter went into liquidation.
Deloitte audited Autonomy during its sale to Hewlett-Packard in which Autonomy’s value was hugely written down; an Autonomy executive was convicted of fraud in relation to the write-down.
Deloitte’s unemployment insurance web portals in USA exposed personal details of applicants to all users.
Minister of State for the Cabinet Office Chloe Smith was a management consultant at Deloitte before becoming an MP.
Website: Deloitte

Name: Cambridge Consultants, Team Consulting, TTP, Sagentia, PA Consulting
Business: Cambridge Consultants: Engineering and technology consultancy
Team Consulting: Medical device design consultancy
TTP: Technology consultancy
Sagentia: Innovative technology consultancy
PA Consulting: Technology consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Procurement and design of ventilators
Cash: £227,059,230
Notes: The contracts were awarded jointly
Website: Cambridge Consultants, Team Consulting, TTP, Sagentia, PA Consulting

Name: PWC
Business: Audits and business advice including tax arrangements
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice to government on financial and organisational consequences of Covid-19 pandemic and how to respond
Cash: £7,400,000
Notes: Caterpillar Inc. paid PWC $55,000,000 to arrange a tax avoidance scheme that saved Caterpillar $2,400,000,000 in tax.
PWC paid $229,000,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by shareholders of Tyco International Limited over a multibillion-dollar accounting fraud. The chief executive and chief financial officer of Tyco were found guilty of looting $600,000,000 from the company.
Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board of the UK fined PWC £1,400,000 for wrongly reporting to the Financial Services Authority that JP Morgan Securities had complied with client money rules.
The Financial Reporting Council issued a fine of £2,300,00 on PWC and ordered the firm to pay £750,000 costs following their investigation of audits of Cattles.
PWC helped multinational companies obtain five hundred and forty-eight legal tax rulings in Luxembourg between 2002 and 2010. The companies saved billions of dollars in taxes.
Website: PWC

Name: Boston Consulting Group
Business: Business advice
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice to government on financial and organisational consequences of Covid-19 pandemic and how to respond
Cash: £18,733,489
Notes: Some consultants at Boston Consulting earn £2,400 a day and some of the most senior consultants earn £7,360 a day for Covid-19 contracts.
Website: Boston Consulting Group

Name: Ernst & Young
Business: Business financial advice including advice on tax payments
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice to government on financial and organisational consequences of Covid-19 pandemic and how to respond, including communications support for Test, Track and Trace
Cash: £2,167,171
Notes: Ernst & Young has a long history of financial and accounting wrongdoing and has been investigated by Securities And Exchange Commission several times leading to fines and/or agreed settlements of hundreds of millions of pounds, and its false tax advice resulted in fines of billions of pounds for itself and its clients.
Ernst & Young has many other government contracts totalling hundreds of millions of pounds.
Website: Ernst & Young

Name: McKinsey & Company
Business: Business advice including advice on consequences of Covid-19 pandemic
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice on replacing Public Health England, and review of Serco’s Test And Trace programme
Cash: £5,100,000
Notes: The replacement of Public Health England is not supposed to be directly related to Covid-19 pandemic but the government used alleged exceptional circumstances as an excuse to not put the contract to tender which they are required to do so by law.
Current minister in the Department Of Health And Social Care Helen Whately was employed as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company when it contributed to the drafting of the Tory Health And Social Care Act in 2012.
Tory peer Baroness Harding, the head of Test and Trace, is a former employee of McKinsey & Company.
Tory MP John Penrose, the Tories’ ‘Anti-Corruption Champion’ and husband of Baroness Harding, is a former employee of McKinsey & Company.
McKinsey & Company’s healthcare advice to businesses and investors focusses on how to make money out of healthcare.
Website: McKinsey & Company

Name: Grant Thornton
Business: Business advice including financial advice for private healthcare businesses
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice to government on financial and organisational consequences of Covid-19 pandemic and how to respond
Cash: £3,500,000
Notes: Grant Thornton was fined several times by Financial Reporting Council for mis-audits, and was ordered to pay £20,000,000 damages to a client for a poor audit.
Grant Thornton advises components of the NHS (trusts) as if they are private businesses separate from the NHS.
Website: Grant Thornton

Name: Newton Europe
Business: Organisational and financial advice for businesses
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice to government on financial and organisational consequences of Covid-19 pandemic and how to respond
Cash: £3,429,645
Notes: Newton Europe advises components of the NHS (trusts) as if they are private businesses separate from the NHS.
Website: Newton Europe

Name: PPE Medpro Limited
Business: PPE products
Registration: UK
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £802,850,000
Notes: PPE Medpro Limited was incorporated on 12th May 2020 and was awarded the contract on 24th June 2020.
Directors Voirrey Coole and Anthony Page are also directors at Knox House Trust that gives fiduciary advice to companies and individuals with emphasis on large scale tax avoidance.
Knox House Trust is registered in tax haven Isle Of Man and is part of Knox Group of companies founded by its chair Doug Barrowman who is engaged to Tory Baroness Michelle Mone.
The company address for PPE Medpro Limited is the same address as that of Michelle Mone Interiors Limited of which Baroness Mone is a director.
Website: PPE Medpro

Name: Meller Designs Limited
Business: Fashion and beauty products
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks and hand sanitiser
Cash: £148,700,000
Notes: David Meller, co-owner of Meller Designs, donated £60,000 to various Tory MPs.
Website: Meller Group

Name: Emodo Inc
Business: Data and customer trends analysis
Registration: USA
Contract: Identification of mobility hotspots
Cash: £300,000
Website: Emodo Inc

Name: G4S
Business: Security
Registration: UK
Contract: Facilities management services to support rapid set-up and operation of Covid-19 testing sites
Cash: £57,000,000
Notes: G4S failed in its contract to provide security staff at the London Olympics forcing the organisers to use troops instead.
A G4S employee, Omar Mateen, killed forty-nine people in an Orlando nightclub. G4S had continued to employ him despite threats he had made to people while on duty.
G4S’s contract to run Birmingham prison was revoked after a riot.
Ben Saunders, head of two G4S-run immigration detention centres, was put on administrative leave after a BBC Panorama documentary revealed abuse of detainees.
G4S used immigration centre detainees as cheap labour.
G4S lost its contract at Medway secure training centre, a jail for children, after abuse of detainees and four members of G4S staff were arrested. Subsequently, G4S management staff were awarded bonuses.
Website: G4S

Name: Mitie
Business: Facilities management
Registration: UK
Contract: Facilities management services to support rapid set-up and operation of Covid-19 testing sites
Cash: £32,000,000
Notes: Mitie’s immigration centres were described as dirty, rundown and insanitary.
Mitie managed cleaning at hospitals in Cornwall and an outpatient clinic was not cleaned for two days.
Mitie failed to meet required standards eight-five times in a month as part of its contract with hospitals in Cornwall, fifty-one times in the following month, two hundred and seventy-one times in the next month and one hundred and ninety-six times in the next month.
A cleaner was suspended by Mitie for trying to unionise the staff.
During a strike by staff over (very) low pay Mitie threatened non-union employees with disciplinary action if they strike or refuse to cross a picket line.
Website: Mitie

Name: Bdo Llp
Business: Financial management
Registration: UK
Contract: Analysis of funding streams for DCMS related to Coronavirus Community Support Fund
Cash: £752,500
Website: BDO LLP

Name: Incendium Consulting Ltd
Business: Corporate real estate consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice on location space for DWP due to extra workload resulting from Covid-19
Cash: £70,000
Website: Incendium Consulting

Name: Wockhardt
Business: Manufacture and supply of medicines
Registration: UK
Contract: Refurbishment of factory to convert it to distribution of Covid-19 vaccine (when available)
Cash: £100,000,000
Website: Wockhardt

Name: IQVIA IES UK Limited
Business: Data analysis for healthcare
Registration: UK
Contract: Seroprevalence survey on Covid-19
Cash: £27,403,128
Website: IQVIA IES UK Limited

Name: Barringa Partners
Business: Management consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: General organisational advice to government on dealing with consequences of Covid-19
Cash: £2,381,960
Website: Barringa Partners

Name: Linc Medical Systems
Business: Medical equipment
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £105,000
Website: Linc Medical Systems

Name: Cooneen Defence Limited
Business: Military and police uniform accessories
Registration: UK
Contract: Gloves
Cash: £114,240
Notes: Cooneen Defence Limited has received many other government contracts to supply clothing and accessories for police and services.
Website: Cooneen Defence Limited

Name: Faculty Science limited
Business: Artificial intelligence software
Registration: UK
Contract: Data science and artificial intelligence assistance to NHSX, and analysis and suggested solutions for the impact of Covid-19 on businesses
Cash: £3,000,000
Notes: Government has not published confirmation of contract.
Faculty provided data science for Vote leave.
Faculty shareholder (value £90,000) Lord Agnew is a minister in the Cabinet Office and Treasury including ministerial responsibility for the Government Digital Service (GDS); Faculty was awarded a (non-Covid related) £250,000 contract to run a cross-government review on adoption of artificial intelligence that included working with GDS.
Faculty was awarded a (non-Covid related) contract to provide advice to publicly funded Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation; one of the CDEI board members is Faculty’s chief commercial officer, Richard Sargeant.
Former Faculty senior employee Ben Warner (brother of Faculty CEO and co-founder Marc Warner) ran data-modelling for the Tories’ 2019 general election campaign.
Website: Faculty Science Limited

Name: Sitel
Business: Customer service, staff training and call centres
Registration: UK
Contract: Contact centre
Cash: £84,228,011.06
Website: Sitel

Name: Sodexo
Business: Services industry
Registration: UK
Contract: Facilities management of isolation unit at a hospital
Cash: £757,229
Website: Sodexo

Name: China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial Group
Business: State run holding company
Registration: China
Contract: Personal protective equipment
Cash: £54,162,456
Notes: All products are imported from China
Website: China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial Group

Name: Sinopharm
Business: Pharmaceuticals and medical devices
Registration: China
Contract: Mechanical ventilators
Cash: £371,717.82
Notes: All products are imported from China
Website: Sinopharm

Name: Honeywell Safety Products
Business: Safety products for industry
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £57,937,150
Website: Honeywell Safety Products

Name: WHI Consulting Limited
Business: Strategy consultancy for healthcare and technology industries
Registration: UK
Contract: Project management support for hard to source equipment and consumables for surge ICU Beds related to Covid-19
Cash: £81,900
Website: WHI Consulting

Name: 4C Associates
Business: Procurement consultancy and supply chain management
Registration: UK
Contract: Support of distribution of personal protective equipment
Cash: £177,630
Website: 4C Associates

Name: Accenture
Business: Strategy and technology consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Project management of support for contact tracing app
Cash: £2,387,266.26
Website: Accenture

Name: Oliver Wyman
Business: Management consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice on procurement and manufacture of drugs for Covid-19 treatment
Cash: £164,550
Website: Oliver Wyman

Name: Alvarez & Marsal
Business: Management consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Consultancy to Treasury regarding state aid rules
Cash: £100,000
Website: Alvarez & Marsal

Name: Efficio
Business: Procurement Consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Advice on awarding of Covid-19 contracts
Cash: £1,455,050
Website: Efficio

Name: Purple Surgical UK Limited
Business: Surgical equipment
Registration: UK
Contract: Face respirators, masks and gowns
Cash: £191,740,000
Notes: For part of the contract Purple Surgical paid £21,000,000 to Win Billion, a US business, but did not receive any products and took legal action.
Website: Purple Surgical UK Limited

Name: Ramfoam
Business: Foam products for industry
Registration: UK
Contract: Visors
Cash: £149,310,000
Website: Ramfoam

Name: Palantir
Business: Data-mining
Registration: UK
Contract: G-Cloud services (data management platform services)
Cash: £24,000,000
Notes: Palantir’s data-mining technology is used by USA military intelligence, by ICE to assist in identifying, detaining and deporting people, by LAPD in predictive policing and by NSA in a global spying network.
Palantir has a large contract with the UK government to process data related to traffic at the post-Brexit border with the EU.
Palantir was founded by its chairman Peter Thiel, a member of the Steering Committee of Bilderberg Group and a donor to many USA Republican politicians including Donald Trump.
Website: Palantir

Name: Merck Serono Limited
Business: Pharmaceutical research
Registration: Germany
Contract: Pre-filled syringes for Covid-19 vaccine trial
Cash: £101,230
Website: Merck Serono

Name: Pharmaceuticals Direct
Business: Procurement, storage and distribution of pharmaceutical and healthcare products
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £131,400,000
Website: Pharmaceuticals Direct

Name: Bloc Blinds
Business: Window blinds
Registration: UK
Contract: Face shields
Cash: £43,530,696
Website: Bloc Blinds

Name: Full Support Limited
Business: Personal protection equipment
Registration: UK
Contract: Personal protection equipment
Cash: £39,136,152
Website: Full Support Limited

Name: Elite Creations
Business: Fashion Accessories
Registration: UK
Contract: Goggles
Cash: £38,000,000

Name: Bolle Brands UK Ltd
Business: Safety goggles
Registration: UK
Contract: Face visors
Cash: £26,000,000

Name: Ideal Medical Solutions Ltd
Business: Medical device distribution
Registration: UK
Contract: Face shields and gowns
Cash: £24,985,000
Website: Ideal Medical Solutions Limited

Name: Direct Corporate Clothing PLC
Business: Uniforms, workwear and personal protective equipment
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £22,217,542
Website: Direct Corporate Clothing PLC

Name: Connexus Healthcare Limited
Business: GP confederation
Registration: UK
Contract: Outreach Covid-19 testing service
Cash: £764,033
Website: Connexus Healthcare Ltd.

Name: Berry BPI
Business: Polythene products for industry
Registration: UK
Contract: Gowns and aprons
Cash: £20,630,949
Website: Berry BPI

Name: Fastenal Europe Limited
Business: Fastenings for industry
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £20,000,000
Website: Fastenal Europe Limited

Name: Agile Medical Limited
Business: Medical equipment for hospitals
Registration: UK
Contract: Ventilators, bedside monitors and modules, examination gloves, disposable sterile and non-sterile gowns, eye shields, goggles, masks and reusable respirators
Cash: £57,786,318
Website: Agile Medical Limited

Name: PFF Packaging Group Limited
Business: Packaging for food industry
Registration: UK
Contract: Disposable Polythene Aprons
Cash: £18,361,173
Website: PFF Packaging Group Limited

Name: Red E Med Limited
Business: Management consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Masks and visors
Cash: £25,731,500

Name: Photocentric Group
Business: Photopolymer products and 3D printing
Registration: UK
Contract: Manufacture of face shields
Cash: £15,340,000
Website: Photocentric Group

Name: Pro-Lab Diagnostics
Business: Products for laboratory testing
Registration: UK
Contract: Laboratory test kits
Cash: £5,280,450
Website: Pro-Lab Diagnostics

Name: bioMerieux
Business: Laboratory testing and diagnostics
Registration: UK
Contract: Laboratory equipment for Covid-19 testing
Cash: £7,504,710
Website: bioMerieux

Name: Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics
Business: Laboratory consultancy
Registration: UK
Contract: Supply of anti-body reagents.
Cash: £4,741,070
Website: Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics

Name: Roche Diagnostics
Business: Diagnostics and assays
Registration: UK
Contract: Assays and related consumables, instruments and service
Cash: £34,464,000
Website: Roche Diagnostics

Name: Life Technologies Limited
Business: Laboratory products
Registration: UK
Contract: Digital inverted microscope and consumables
Cash: £66,388,590
Website: Life Technologies Limited

Name: Hologic
Business: Womens health services
Registration: USA
Contract: Tests, controls, associated consumables and training and support
Cash: £151,219,209
Website: Hologic

Name: Chanzo
Business: Human resources consultancy and recruitment
Registration: UK
Contract: Recruitment and supply of executive assistant and seven HR staff for temporary contracts
Cash: £300,620
Notes: The staff were appointed to assist Lord Deighton who was appointed by Health Secretary Matt Hancock to lead the procurement of essential personal protective equipment for frontline health and social care staff.
Deighton was appointed in April, the same month that the contract was planned.
Deighton provided a glowing testimony on the Chanzo website for its founder and CEO Jean Tomlin.
Deighton and Tomlin are directors of Hakluyt & Company and both worked in senior positions on the organising committee for the London Olympics.
Website: Chanzo

Name: DiaSorin Limited
Business: Laboratory diagnostics
Registration: UK
Contract: Supply of laboratory test equipment
Cash: £4,152,700
Website: DiaSorin Limited

Name: Siemens Healthineers
Business: Diagnostic and therapeutic imaging, laboratory diagnostics and molecular medicine
Registration: UK
Contract: Supply of reagents
Cash: £3,600,000
Website: Siemens Healthineers

Name: Tecan
Business: Provider of automated laboratory instruments and solutions
Registration: UK
Contract: Supply of liquid handling machines
Cash: £3,400,000
Website: Tecan

Name: QuantumDX
Business: Molecular diagnostics
Registration: UK
Contract: Develop and validate COVID-19 testing kits
Cash: £3,200,000
Website: QuantumDX

Name: Bellagio Global Limited
Business: Novelty watches and assorted novelty accessories
Registration: UK
Contract: Gloves
Cash: £2.800,000
Notes: Director Michael Elliot was also a director of Bellagio Europe Limited that was liquidated owing £40,000 to HMRC.
Website: Bellagio Global Limited

Name: Bruntwood
Business: Commercial property owners
Registration: UK
Contract: Refurbishment of a facility to create a Lighthouse Laboratory
Cash: £900,000
Notes: Bruntwood is the owner of the site being refurbished
Website: Bruntwood

Name: ACF Technologies Limited
Business: Software for customer interaction with businesses
Registration: UK
Contract: Software related to Covid-19 testing
Cash: £800,000
Website: ACF Technologies Limited

Name: Integra Biosciences Limited
Business: Laboratory equipment
Registration: UK
Contract: Grip tips, reservoirs and waste bags, pipetting heads, base units and accessories for Lighthouse Laboratory
Cash: £786,000
Website: Integra Biosciences Limited

Name: Appleton Woods Limited
Business: Equipment and consumables for medical testing
Registration: UK
Contract: Supply of Microbiological Safety Cabinets
Cash: £488,643
Website: Appleton Woods Limited

Name: Sartorius Stedim UK Limited
Business: Instruments, Consumables, and Services for Biopharmaceutical, Chemical, Food, and Academic Labs
Registration: UK
Contract: Equipment for the manufacture of vaccines
Cash: £830,090.08
Website: Sartorius Stedim UK Limited

Name: MedDX Solutions
Business: Diagnostic sample collection and transport packaging
Registration: UK
Contract: Procurement of blood collection kits
Cash: £474,000
Website: MedDX Solutions

Name: VWR International
Business: Supply of medical equipment
Registration: UK
Contract: Purchase of biological safety cabinets and centrifuges for Covid-19 testing laboratories
Cash: £614,466
Website: VWR International

Name: Rehear Labs Limited
Business: Manufacture and supply of medical instruments
Registration: UK
Contract: Face Shields
Cash: £40,500,000
Notes: Rehear Labs Limited lists no current liabilities, no creditors, nor provisions for liabilities.
In October, Companies House issued the first notice of its intention to strike off Rehear Labs Limited and dissolve the company.

Name: Yearntree
Business: Office supplies
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks, overalls and gowns
Cash: £26,510,000
Website: Yearntree

Name: Gemini Surgical UK Limited
Business: Surgical instruments
Registration: UK
Contract: Gowns, face shields and masks
Cash: £15,244,910
Website: Gemini Surgical UK Limited

Name: CannaGrow Biosciences
Business: Research in uses of cannabidiol
Registration: UK
Contract: Face masks
Cash: £33,000,000
Website: CannaGrow Biosciences

To find more contracts use Government contracts finder. In Keywords type the name of a company with + between each word (no spaces) and add the word ‘Covid’ (including another + before it). In Notice Status untick Open and make sure Awarded is ticked. In Sort Results choose Latest publication date; all non-tendered Covid-related contracts are from March 2020 onward.

Notes

The NHS website includes details of the internal supply chain for equipment, etc. related to Covid-19: NHS supply chain for Covid-19

Plymouth Brethren
Several of the businesses awarded Covid-19 contracts have connections to Plymouth Brethren. Plymouth Brethren secured tax breaks of up to £11,000,000 a year for itself via a deal with the Charity Commission that overturned an earlier decision to refuse it charitable status in a test case.

Some Tory MPs assisted its appeal against Charity Commission:

Peter Bone secured a Ten Minute Rule Bill in the House of Commons to argue in favour of Plymouth Brethren’s charitable status in exchange for help with leafletting in his 2010 election campaign
Robert Halfon tabled two Early Day Motions in the House of Commons to argue in favour of Plymouth Brethren’s charitable status in exchange for help with his 2010 election campaign
Fiona Bruce arranged a Westminster Hall debate to help to support Plymouth Brethren’s case against Charity Commission in exchange for help with her 2010 election campaign
Michael Ellis sponsored an event hosted by Plymouth Brethren in a marquee on the House of Commons terrace in January 2013

GB News launch day schedule

October 19, 2020February 12, 2021 ducksoapLeave a comment

Schedule for launch day of GB News is expected to resemble closely the listing below.

Notes
GB News is a commercial channel. Advertisements are likely to occupy about thirty percent of the broadcast time and there will be frequent advert breaks.

Programmes will be live broadcasts except where stated.

In addition to listed news bulletins, there will be regular brief news and weather updates throughout the day.

Launch Day

07.00 ‘God Save the Queen’ performed by GB News staff accompanied by Ted Nugent on guitar (recorded segment)

07.05 Chairman’s Introduction: Andrew Neil welcomes viewers with a witty monologue and then banter with sidekick Isabel Oakeshott

07.15 The GB News dancers, led by Carole Malone and Brendan O’Neill, and accompanied by Gary Barlow on piano, entertain the viewers

07.25 Fought For The Day: Daily segment wherein a classical liberal describes the battle against cancel culture. Today, Douglas Murray

07.35 Monday Brexit Business: Ben Habib and Annunziata Rees-Mogg give weekly advice for disaster capitalists on how to make a packet out of Brexit

08.00 Main news: Jermaine Jenas and Georgia Toffolo with national and international news, including weather reports

08.30 OMG: Daily segment featuring a celebrity talking about their faith. Today, Ian Paisley Jr (recorded)

08.45 Sports news with Malky Mackay

09.00 Fancy Some Charlie: Dominique Samuels visits Cannock with a cardboard cutout of Charlie Kirk and invites early morning shoppers to debate him

09.30 How We Got Here: Analysis of the road to Brexit from referendum to today, presented by Tim Martin with guests Alexander Nix and Isabel Oakeshott

10.00 Britain In The Morning: Light-hearted news and magazine show presented by Andrew Flintoff and Sharon Davies. Includes interviews with Kate Andrews, Peter Shilton, Suella Braverman and Nigella Lawson, music from GB News resident artist Myleene Klass and satirical interludes from Geoff Norcott

11.45 Guns Blazing: Daily segment live from a Royal Naval vessel on manoeuvres, with Shaun Williamson

12.00 You what?: Debate show hosted by chairman Andrew Neil with guests Chloe Westley, Douglas Ross, Alastair Campbell, Lord Austin and Harriet Sergeant. Today’s topics include cycle lanes, Venezuela and favourite fish

13.00 Main News: Jermaine and Georgia are back

13.30 Have It!: Phone-in bonanza as the public are invited to call the studio and spout their opinions. Hosted by Arron Banks and Rachel Riley

14.00 Now Then, That’s Reet Gradely: Darren Grimes discusses traditional northern skills. Today, how to polish your clogs (recorded)

14.20 Have It! (part 2): Arron and Rachel return with more views of the public

14.50 Wipe It Away: Nigel Farage, on the GB News toilet, expresses a considered opinion while wiping his arsehole

15.00 Left Alone: A non-right-wing contributor discusses a topical issue. (No confirmation of contributor yet)

15.05 Tell Me Professor: Matt Le Tissier talks to renowned academic Nigel Biggar (recorded)

15.40 Toby On Tour: Toby Young tours empty village pubs, sips a mild and lets us know what he thinks

16.00 My Hero: A celebrity talks about a political hero. Today, Darren Day on Shirley Williams (recorded)

16.20 Order! Order!: Jess Phillips’ hilarious new political quiz show live from the GB News foyer featuring Norman Tebbit (if still alive) on gong and contestants Baron Mann, Charlotte Gill, Noel Edmonds and Nimco Ali

17.00 Washington Calling: Steve Bannon (subject to court case) and Candace Owens report live from Washington on the latest happenings in the White House and Capitol Building

17.35 Monday Brexit Business: (Repeat of the morning broadcast)

18.00 Early Evening Bulletin: Lee Hurst reads the news

18.15 Fish Market: Everything you need to know about the price of fish with Lance Forman

18.30 Toby On Tour: It’s happy hour and Toby’s tongue is loosening

18.50 Sports news with Tracey Crouch

19.00 Get the Party Started: Andrew Neil returns after his siesta and is joined by many of the GB News presenters for a fast-paced tag-team extravaganza of interviews, quickfire debates and ejaculations from the podium in a specially designed studio with rotating stages, moving chairs and rock gig-style lighting. Simon Cowell is Master of Ceremonies. Confirmed guests include Michael Gove, Nelly Huszcza, Maureen Lipman, Paul Staines and Jackiey Budden

21.00 Main News: Denise Welch and Laurence Fox with the main evening bulletin

21.35 Toby On Tour: Toby’s final stint of the day

22.00 Empire Of Fun: MPs Bob Seely and Mark Francois celebrate the history of the British empire (recorded)

22.30 Let Me Speak: Mark Pougatch pits opposites together and sees what happens. Today, Danny Dyer versus Jim Davidson

23.15 I Lurve Politics: (Adults-only show) Tom Harwood masturbates (off camera) while listening to Margaret Thatcher’s recording of the Gettysburg Address, followed by analysis from Julia Hartley-Brewer

23.40 Final Word: Andrew Neil’s précis of launch day’s events

00.00 Forde In Control: Matt Forde brings some of the Spitting Image puppets into the studio for rib-tickling satire. Alex Deane and Baroness Davidson join in the fun

01.00 GB News joins its sister station Aussie News until 07.00

Recommended reading
GB News is proud of the diversity of its investors: Sam Bright for Byline

Mendacious Etonian clown Boris Johnson’s no deal Brexit

October 19, 2020December 6, 2023 ducksoap1 Comment

No deal Brexit is a tool to lever the destruction of public services. Free from oversight by the EU, the Tories will sign a “trade deal” with USA that abdicates the British government and hands power to corporations.
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Board of Trade member Dan Hannan co-authored a paper for extremist economic think-tank Cato Institute in 2018 wherein a post-Brexit UK/US free trade deal was defined. The essence of the proposal in the paper was public services should always behave in a manner that suits commercial interests and not favour the public. It demanded that governments should have no control over the cost or availability of public services and that laws should exist that prevent governments from acting against commercial interests.
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Hannan created a think-tank Initiative For Free Trade (IFT) with former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott who was also appointed to the Board of Trade by Boris Johnson. IFT exists to promote the ideology of trade deals that put all power in the hands of international businesses and make governments impotent.
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Such a trade deal as described by Cato Institute is the sole motivator and sole objective of the Tories’ desire for no deal Brexit.
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To assist the annihilation of public service infrastructure, a no deal Brexit has the bonus consequence of Britain no longer being bound by protections for workers’ rights, human rights, health and safety regulations, environment protection regulations and access to justice.
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Dominic Raab wrote a paper for extremist think-tank Centre for Policy Studies that outlined his aim of severe reductions of workers’ rights. Without legal protections of EU courts the Tories will be able to enact Raab’s plan.
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It is hugely significant that government policy decisions and law changes made recently are attacks on freedom and liberty. The Covert Human Intelligence Sources bill (CHIS) will lead to a law change that legalises any criminal act by a variety of state agents against any political opponent of the government and includes the capability to cover-up such acts. The unavailability of EU law and courts makes consequences of the bill possible.
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CHIS was created because the Tories know there will be a backlash against policies that attack rights and destroy public services. That response will come from trades’ unions, left-of-centre political activists, and independent journalists and news outlets, all of whom are intended targets of laws that will result from CHIS.
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Home Secretary Priti Patel rabble-roused an audience of police superintendents against environmental campaigners. She wanted members and supporters of Extinction Rebellion to be cast as criminals and domestic terrorists. CHIS will allow unrestricted action against them. Environmental campaigners are a threat to many of the corporations who will benefit financially from the consequences of no deal Brexit.
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Opponents of the Tories were warned repeatedly about the intent to pursue a no deal Brexit. But, despite clear analysis that such a pursuit was the focussed Tory objective and despite regular signposts indicating the direction of the government, the centrists, liberals and soft left continued to bleat about “incompetence” and “mistakes.” Yes, Tories are utterly incompetent but that shared facet of their personalities is a diversion; indeed, it assists them in following their goal because they are never sidetracked by didactic reasoning or logic.
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Boris Johnson is a grotesque poorly-educated badly brought up fool, but he is also a nurtured antisocial opportunist who was taught by both his father and his school to be selfish in the extreme and to always seek to feed the wealthiest. He is the worst possible choice to be Prime Minister but also exactly what The Uncivilised – the exploiters waiting to gorge themselves after Brexit – want from that position.
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Raab, Hancock, Truss, Braverman, Gove, Rees-Mogg, Bridgen, Whately, Cleverly and Patel are, rightly, figures of ridicule for their rancid ignorance and acute laziness but all are doing what their real employers – not the public – require.
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The Covid-19 pandemic allowed the Tories to avoid too much criticism of their march toward no deal. We could have had a whole year of persistent lies, pantomime meetings and cod and insincere analysis of variants of deals. Fortunately for the Tories, Brexit slipped away from the front of the news.
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On Friday, October 16th 2020, Johnson announced in his usual unprofessional style that a meeting with the EU was cancelled because an arbitrary date to find a deal had passed. Inevitably, as planned and as demonstrated at the start of 2019 when Theresa May was Prime Minister, Tories blamed the EU for the failure to negotiate a deal.
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There are no practical plans for the immediate effects of a no deal Brexit. At the borders – sea, air and tunnel – there will be mayhem and confusion; in Ireland there is no clarity at all on how the border between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will operate or how the air and sea border between Northern Ireland and Britain will be affected.
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In its usual half-cock approach, the government invented a Kent Access Permit procedure for lorries carrying freight with no software system available. No deal advice for businesses is flimsy, contradictory and utterly inadequate. There is an abject absence of planning for what would be the most disruptive and far-reaching upheaval in the country since 1939.
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After December 31st 2020 some shortages of food stuffs and some steep price rises will occur quickly and ports of all forms of travel will initially be maelstroms. The rabid nature of stock exchanges and currency exchanges will be the first response of The Uncivilised. Wealthy individuals and syndicates will make billions in minutes from the sale or purchase of sterling and from hedge betting. But, the worst consequences of no deal Brexit will not be felt straight away.
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Gradually, but without pause, the entirety of public services will be handed to private businesses, most of which will have been invented for the purpose of accepting free money and infrastructure and will subcontract all work to others while creaming off the majority of the public cash given to them. Most public services staff will be on zero hours, low pay and with all workers’ rights removed. Users of the public services will receive vastly reduced services and, where payment is required, vastly increased prices.
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Technically, the NHS will remain “free at point of contact” but the variety of medical procedures available will be greatly reduced and there will be much longer waits for operations and assessments. Medical staff will also lose permanency of their jobs and workers’ rights.
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As stated earlier, loss of access to EU courts will mean legal challenges to quality of public services and to loss of workers’ rights will not be possible, and political challenges will be able to be suppressed due to loss of legal rights and to laws resulting from CHIS.
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In the Westminster and professional media bubbles arguments against Johnson’s no deal Brexit remain (no pun) weak: The Tories are depicted (correctly) as incapable, ignorant and reckless, but there is little or no time and space used to explain precisely why they are pursuing such a “reckless” strategy, or who they work for. There is reluctance by the bubbles to admit that the “recklessness” is actually deliberate focussed intent and that the desired outcome is disaster: Disaster capitalists are called that because they benefit from disastrous economic events.
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Behaviour of Tory MPs, in interactions with the media and in the House of Commons, is becoming increasingly petulant, flippant and dismissive. They never cared and lies have always been the norm but, as they see their endgame in sight, their enthusiasm for pretence at being a government is dissipating. They needn’t bother anymore.
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Tories’ response to Covid-19 pandemic is to give billions of pounds to private businesses, supposedly to provide various pandemic-related services, and most of the money is not used for equipment, testing or staff but disappears into infinitely deep pockets of corporate trousers. Recipients include businesses that don’t really exist or else just subcontract work or act as recruitment agencies. The money handed out is borrowed from the same financial exploiters who benefit from the contracts awarded. The Tories are happy to saddle future governments and the public with the debt.
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The Covid contracts scam is a pointer to how Tories will behave after Brexit, particularly regarding the NHS. They rob the public now but also rob the public for the future via debt accrued, like bank robbers who not only clean out a bank but also magically remove all future deposits in the bank.
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As public services disappear, jobs disappear, pensions disappear, rights evaporate and access to legal redress is erased, Tories will seek to retain sufficient support by blaming anyone but themselves and by orchestrating a continuous barrage of extreme othering wherein they will ramp up unboundedly their encouragement and persuasion of prejudices, bigotry and division.
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The extent of Tory targetting for the benefit of distraction will be limitless: Immigrants (from EU and elsewhere); descendents of immigrants; any political activist who is not a classical libertarian; anti-racists; environmental campaigners; any lawyer, barrister or judge seeking to uphold what is left of the law; non-client journalists and news outlets; teachers, university professors and other academics; doctors and scientists.
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The attacks on the integrity of their targets will be a small part of the assault. Be clear that the othering will not be restricted to propaganda helped by client journalism.
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New laws, some of them corollaries of CHIS, will censor journalism and teaching; instructions for teachers by the government included recently the rule that “schools should not under any circumstances use resources produced by organisations that take extreme political stances on matters. Examples of extreme political stances include a publicly stated desire to abolish or overthrow capitalism.”
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Alongside censorship of teaching there will be impositions of particular political perspectives in education. Under the fraudulent pretext of protecting “free speech” the Tories intend to force universities to yes-platform far-right extremists with the penalty of restricted funding if they refuse to comply.
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Casting political opponents as “domestic terrorists” is a common feature of authoritarian governments when the foundations of their philosophy are crumbling. Patel adopted that approach in her aforesaid speech to police on environmental campaigners, and the Prevent system targets climate change activists. Vitriol by Tory MPs directed at Black Lives Matter campaigners will be enhanced by suppression.
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The treatment of Julian Assange – absence of justice, manipulation of law and legal process by the judge, and the physical privations – should be a warning to everyone about how far and how easily and brazenly the Tories will act.
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Useful opposition will not be produced by liberals who, when they talk about creeping fascism, focus on their concern for erosion of democracy. However, if an elected government changes the law via bills through parliament then resulting effects are not “undemocratic.” State agents acting within laws created by CHIS are not being “undemocratic.” The Tories have an eighty-seat majority in parliament. Liberals plead with (unelected) peers and with (unelected) supreme court judges to override Government decisions. Democracy or not is not the battle. Politics is.
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Insulated centrists and liberals do not care about the human effects of a severe Brexit. An extremist government, within a democratic context, suits the centrist gloop because they can position themselves as illusory opponents and enjoy the centrist grift with shaky surety that they are way down the list of targets. They will be lining up to appear on new far-right TV channel GB News to “debate” with screaming heads and then self-congratulate on a “debate” won, a “debate” of no importance whatsoever.
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Who can stop the Tories? They will not place any barrier upon themselves. The EU cannot stop them and have no patience left. Starmer’s Labour, House of Lords, the head of state, supreme court, police, and professional media (both right-wing and liberal) will not attempt to stop them and will assist. Some politicians in Wales and Scotland and some professional media throughout the UK might want to resist but fears for their liberty and loss of livelihoods will prevail.
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Asking the Tories to rethink is pointless because they do not care about harmful consequences of no deal. Invocations of despair at threats to democracy are invalid. Legal action to dampen the rush toward no deal will be impermissible after December 31st and will become increasingly less possible as Tories continue to change the law to restrict legal obstacles.
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The only viable opposition is numbers.
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Relevant papers
Cato Institute: The Ideal U.S.-U.K. Free Trade Agreement
Dominic Raab: Escaping The Strait Jacket
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Recommended reading
Anthony Robinson for Yorkshire Bylines
Chris Grey: The theatricals of ‘deal or no deal’ are a distraction
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Related blogs
Analysis of Cato Institute paper
Initiative for Free Trade
Priti Patel, police and Extinction Rebellion
Fraudulent Tories blame EU for disastrous no deal Brexit (February 2019)
Tory government directing political education in schools
Tory education policy: Book-burning and indoctrination

Centrist grifters

October 13, 2020August 16, 2022 ducksoap3 Comments

Political grifting is more prevalent in Britain than professional political activism. Careers as opinionators are plentiful, lucrative and, via a little flexibility now and then, long-lasting.

The entirety of far-right and/or conservative activism, including elected politicians, is grift for the participants. Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Toby Young, Isabel Oakeshott, Andrew Neil, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Matt Chorley, Darren Grimes, etc. are in it for the money. Their warped anti-human philosophies are insincere and are tools to attain income.

It isn’t just the right who enjoy grifting. There is more than one reason why the centrist gloop attacked Jeremy Corbyn relentlessly. Corbyn and his colleagues opposed the Tories and presented alternative policies and ideologies. Such behaviour sidelined the centrists; their vacuity was exposed. Having contributed to Tory success in the 2019 general election and following the election of ideologically abstinent Keir Starmer as The Bystander, centrists crawled back into the limelight and reactivated their most reliable grift: Apolitically bemoaning the Tory government.

Criticism of capability of the government is a favoured pastime of the self-dubbed “moderates.” They protest haughtily against perceived “mistakes” by and “incompetence” of the Tories, occasionally going as far as calling ministers “lazy,” alongside theories that depict malevolent “undemocratic” individuals, often with the surname Cummings, leading the poor Etonians astray.

What the centrists do rarely is criticise Tories for being Tories. The intrinsic nature of being Tory – ingrained antisocial selfishness and focus on feeding the few at the expense of the many – is eschewed by centrists as a viable target. They forego such analysis because they share Tories’ ideology. Their complaints are about style and presentation, not about content or intent.

Centrists competing with Tories is a battle between two tentacles of conservatism. The former posit no opposition to the latter but they pretend to do so because that pantomime is a good earner. If genuine opposition to Tories exists then centrists lose both their opportunity to be in government and much of their income stream; if Britain is bereft of opposition then it’s a win-win scenario for centrists because either they are the government or else they are the professional pseudo opposition.

Free from their assumed responsibility to pound Corbyn-led Labour with fraudulent smears and abuse, centrists amuse each other with clumsy witticisms about Tory ministers’ foibles, snigger conspiratorially at endless contradictions, hypocrisy and mayhem of Tory on-the-hoof policy, and bang the doom drum of Brexit while sidestepping their associated blame for devastating consequences of a Tory government.

It’s a game. Starmer and Johnson or Dunt and Murray, politicians or commentators, dancing off against each other, none interested in challenging exploitation or improving lives and both groups raking it in. Centrist grifters are not worse than their Tory counterparts but there is a smidgen more dishonesty. They pretend to oppose and pretend to disapprove.

The grift needs frequent orgies of mutual masturbation. Guardian articles by Crace or Hyde, TV appearances by Miller and twitter threads by Dunt are greeted by campadres with ecstatic organ-destroying frenzies of appreciation wholly at odds with quality or usefulness of the words written or spoken.

The persistent group-cheer is detached from analysis, information and impartment of knowledge. There are small pockets of adequateness: Dunt’s assiduousness, Miller’s knowledge of law and Hyde’s speckled success at humour, but embarrassment of flaccidity is the overriding reaction to their work.

By far the most deeply embarrassing ongoing episode in the centrist jerkfest is the veneration of parody person Matt Forde. Forde, an opponent of wit and an opponent of cogent political analysis, has a career in television and, more recently, in authorship that has no basis in talent, no component of originality and an absence of likeability both in product and in personality.

It would seem perplexing that Forde has any public career at all if one were unaware of the group fellation nature of centrist grifting. Unaquainted with shame, Forde prostitutes himself and his work without regard for how poor it is, and his fellow grifters assist him because they know he’ll respond mutually with invites to his TV show or mentions in his book. Forde’s shamelessness aids him because it encourages him to be permanently enthusiastic about his awful work, enthusiasm that extends to appreciation of other centrists’ mediocre output who respond with enthusiasm for him that leads to positive reviews of his book and many opportunities to promote the book.

Allegorically, at a centrist Bacchanalia Forde would be a small dog running betwixt revellers’ handjobs as he performed amusing doggy tricks in exchange for biscuits.

Today, October 13th 2020, Forde’s tantric wank book is launched with assistance from seminal centrist grifter Alastair 45 Minutes Campbell; thus, simultaneously, Forde attains both pinnacle and nadir in the world of moderate grift. Although the launch is online, not in person, Forde is charging £7 to people who “attend” the event.

MattForde — Matt Forde (seated) on the set of Spitting Image

Centrist grifters are astroturfers on political opposition. They are distractors, time-wasters and gluttons. They consume space. They rid parliament of genuine opposition and fill up newspapers, TV studios and book shelves with inanity and waffle. They add nothing. They are in the way.

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Month: October 2020