The Mandelson scandal reveals a political settlement in which democratic choice is curtailed and the power of markets eclipses the will of voters – only the left can challenge this, writes JON TRICKETT MP
How Public First saw our health come last
The Tories’ Covid communications were run by a true-blue Conservative ‘consultancy firm’ appointed without any bidding or competition. SOLOMON HUGHES exposes their world of ‘nods and winks’
Public First, which won the contract to run key Covid-19 communications without any competition, is a PR firm and political consultancy founded by former Cameron and Johnson adviser Rachel Wolf, with her husband James Frayne, also a former Tory adviser
Corbyn’s intervention exposes a corrupted system, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
Paul Holden’s book, The Fraud, exposes a hidden war inside Labour, where claims of anti-semitism, amplified by media power and factional networks, were used to break Corbynism and recast the party. JOHN ELLISON revisits the scandals, investigations and suppressed evidence from that era
In the second of a series of articles, Storming the Heavens author JENNY CLEGG introduces the key themes of her book on the Chinese revolution
The growth of Cuba’s biotechnology sector is an example of how socialism can prioritise scientific innovation, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Paul Holden’s The Fraud reveals how a network of donors, MPs and opaque organisations quietly organised to destroy Corbyn’s leadership and manufacture a new centre of power inside Labour, writes JOHN ELLISON
Systems of power enable, excuse and normalise abuse, while survivors are ignored and women’s exploitation is repackaged as commerce and choice, warns CHARLIE WEINBERG
TORY-LED consultancy Public First won an £840,000 contract to run key Covid-19 communications because Boris Johnson was “cautious about who to trust” and needed to be soothed with a firm that was “in line with the Prime Minister’s agenda,” according to court documents.
“A nod and a wink” — that’s how people describe giving a contract to a friend, while not making it too obvious that friendship helped the decision.
But it looks like the government has invented a whole new set of facial expressions, tics and grimaces to make sure top Tory firms get key public contracts, while pretending it isn’t cronyism.
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Martin Taylor, the hedge-fund multimillionaire who has poured millions into pushing Labour rightwards, helped finance Lucy Powell’s supposedly dissenting campaign — suggesting her victory was not the ‘soft-left’ rebellion some have claimed, says SOLOMON HUGHES
Secret consultation documents finally released after the Morning Star’s two-year freedom of information battle show the Home Office misrepresented public opinion, claiming support for policies that most respondents actually strongly criticised as dangerous and unfair, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Health Secretary Wes Streeting taking £53k from Tory-linked recruiter and outsourcer Peter Hearn’s OPD Group is a great example of how Labour’s rich donors shape policies targeting the poor – not their wealth, writes SOLOMON HUGHES