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The ever narrowing gap between money and war
SOLOMON HUGHES investigates the ‘business friendly’ reforms which have put banking, oil and management consultancy executives into positions of power in the MoD
Defence Secretary Gavin WIlliamson sits inside Lancaster Bomber

WHO is in charge of our armed forces? Well, thanks to "business friendly” reforms, bankers, management consultants and oil firm executives are.

In 2010 the Tory-Lib Dem coalition created “Whitehall Boards” — groups of business executives who serve as “non-executive directors” of each department, including the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

These boards were created by then Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude in order “to make government operate in a more businesslike manner.”

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Features / 3 October 2025
3 October 2025

The new angle from private firms shmoozing their way into public contracts was the much-trumpeted arrival of ‘artificial intelligence’ — and no-one seemed to have heard the numerous criticisms of this unproven miracle cure, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

TORY HIGH SOCIETY:  Sir John Ritblat
Features / 19 September 2025
19 September 2025

It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES

Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks as he hosts a VJ Day commemorative reception in the garden of 10 Downing Street, London, August 14, 2025
Features / 5 September 2025
5 September 2025

Keir Starmer’s hiring Tim Allan from Tory-led Strand Partners is another illustration of  Labour’s corporate-influence world where party differences matter less than business connections, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

Defence Secretary John Healey (third left) and his French counterpart Sebastien Lecornu (second left) view a long-range air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missile, during a visit to MDBA in Hertfordshire, July 9, 2025
Features / 22 August 2025
22 August 2025

MBDA’s Alabama factory makes components for Boeing’s GBU-39 bombs used to kill civilians in Gaza. Its profits flow through Stevenage to Paris — and it is one of the British government’s favourite firms, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES

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