Editor of @thesundaytimes Insight investigations team. Four-time Scoop of the Year winner. Author of Failures of State and The Ugly Game.
Sunday Times
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The moment @Arbuthnott and I have been looking forward to months: our new book Failures of State is published today thanks to @HarperCollins. Read it to find out why Britain has one of the highest deaths rates in the world and our economy suffered so badly.
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Today @thetimes reveals the bombshell contents of the Duchy Files: how the secretive property empires that fund King Charles and Prince William are making millions by levying charges on the armed forces, the NHS, schools, charities and the general public.
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Today a @sundaytimes Insight team undercover investigation with @arbuthnott reveals the backdoor routes used by Britain’s cash-strapped universities to bring in high fee-paying overseas students on lower grades. Read about it here:
thetimes.co.uk/article/cash-…
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Today we reveal that scientists in Wuhan conducted extremely risky experiments in their lab to test whether coronaviruses had the potential to cause a pandemic - in the months before the coronavirus pandemic.
New Insight investigation with @Arbuthnott
thetimes.co.uk/article/insid…
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Over the last two decades the royals have made £22m from the rental of office space in "Charity Towers" at commercial rates to organisations such as Marie Curie, MacMillan Cancer Support and Comic Relief. The King is the patron of Marie Curie and MacMillan.
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Read the full story of the 5410 properties owned by the monarch and the prince in @thetimes - and their cost to you, the taxpayer.
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Overseas students can buy their way on to highly competitive courses at leading Russell Group universities with as little as a handful of C grades at GCSE. The same courses require British students to have A or A* at A-level.
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Our five-month joint investigation with @C4Dispatches has uncovered a trove of information long denied to parliament: every plot of land owned by the royal fiefdoms that fund the Charles and William's private lifestyles - the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall.
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Government ignored warnings from scientists and lost a crucial five weeks to prepare for coronavirus. How Britain sleepwalked into disaster - an Insight investigation.
thetimes.co.uk/article/coron…
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The files lay bare the true cost of the fiefdoms to taxpayers. The King is making £11m over 15 years renting a warehouse to the NHS. His son charges the army to train on Dartmoor, the navy to moor its boats, and the ministry of justice £37m over 25 years for a prison.
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The royals benefit from scores of feudal-like levies based on land once seized by medieval monarchs and never surrendered to the government. They charge for the right to cross rivers; load cargo onto the shore; run cables under their beaches; operate schools and even dig graves.
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They earn revenue from toll bridges, ferries, sewage pipes, churches, village halls, pubs, distilleries, gas pipelines, boat moorings, opencast and underground mines, car parks, rental homes, wind turbines, a public toilet and even RNLI lifeboats.
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We filmed admissions officials and agents revealing that the universities give more leeway in entry requirements to foreign students because they pay much money than British undergraduates. The tuition fee for British students has been capped £9,250 for many years.
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EXCLUSIVE: The Sunday Times Insight team travelled to India undercover to reveal the scale of the Indian hacking industry’s nefarious influence in Britain. They secretly filmed a series of cyber criminals who made some disturbing confessions. thetimes.co.uk/article/caugh…
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He said the backdoor routes are not publicised in the UK because British students “would not accept it”. He explained: “It’s not something they want to tell you, but it’s the truth”.
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They allege that the People's Liberation Army was running a secret project alongside the publicly declared work of the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This included experiments on a small number of coronaviruses with a close genetic likeness to Covid-19.
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Watch our undercover film exposing UK universities.
thetimes.co.uk/article/7c087…
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The microbiologist Professor Richard Ebright told us this work was “by far the most reckless and dangerous research on coronaviruses - or indeed on any viruses - known to have been undertaken at any time in any location”.
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One official laughed when describing the backdoor routes offered to wealthy overseas students. “If you can take the lift, why go through the hardest route,” he said.
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The million dollar question is: did this type of experiment create Covid-19? The US investigators we spoke to were convinced that it did.
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Qatar World Cup bid broke Fifa’s rules by running secret “black operations” campaign to sabotage its rivals to host the 2022 World Cup, leaked documents reveal - Insight investigation in tomorrow’s @thesundaytimes @Arbuthnott
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They described how the scientists in Wuhan had worked alongside the Chinese military when they conducted experiments fusing together the world’s most deadly coronaviruses.
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We talked to experts in the US who had been tasked with investigating how the Covid-19 virus emerged in Wuhan. They were given privileged access to top secret intelligence.
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The #dopingscandal has widened to include Premier League footballers. Read more in @thesundaytimes @Arbuthnott @DavidCollinsST
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The Sunday Times and the Bureau of Investigative journalism secretly filmed Indian hackers talking candidly about how they are hired by private investigators from the UK and elsewhere to steal emails and private information. thetimes.co.uk/article/caugh…
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World’s closest known match to the Covid-19 virus was found seven years ago by Wuhan scientists in an abandoned mine where it was linked to deaths caused by a coronavirus-type respiratory illness - an Insight investigation. @Arbuthnott
thetimes.co.uk/article/seven…
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Mo Farah's coach accused of doping violations in leaked official report by US watchdog. Read tomorrow's Sunday Times.
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Revealed: Qatar’s extraordinary secret $880m TV cash offers to Fifa at crucial times in its campaign to host the 2022 World Cup. Read the Insight investigation in tomorrow’s @thesundaytimes.
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Don't think they love us. This is how Fifa responds to this morning's latest sensational @thesundaytimes revelations:
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Revealed: how coronavirus infections sky-rocketed from estimated 200,000 to 1.5 million people as Boris dithered in the last nine days before lockdown - an Insight investigation with @Arbuthnott @DipeshGadher @leake
thetimes.co.uk/article/three…
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Following Prof Ferguson’s testimony that thousands of lives could have been saved if we had locked down sooner, here’s the Insight story on what happened: thetimes.co.uk/article/three…
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Man Utd boss Mourinho faces calls for criminal inquiry after leaked documents suggest tax authorities were misled over off-shore fortune
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It is illegal to commission hacking from the UK with a prison sentence of up to ten years. There are similar laws in India, but the hackers had no fear of being found out. One laughed when asked if any Indian cyber criminal had been caught. “Not even a single one,” he said. 6/6
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A computer hacker in Delhi was caught on camera describing how UK corporate intelligence companies are using hackers to break into the email accounts and smartphones of British citizens. “The British and the whole world … are using Indian hackers,” he said.
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The UK government provided formal support to a notorious Indian company that had been publicly linked to wide-scale cyber attacks directed at more than a dozen countries. The company’s founder was even introduced to Prince William.
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Man Utd boss Mourinho faces calls for tax inquiry after Insight revelations about his secret off-shore millions @thesundaytimes
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The hacker said his targets included a billionaire murder victim, a whistleblower exposing corporate malpractice and women suspected of infidelity by their partners.
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A Bangalore-based cyber criminal was filmed proposing to hack City of London financiers by cloning the NHS website. He also offered to target victims using Pegasus – the world’s most powerful known cyber weapon – which can turn mobile phones into eavesdropping devices.
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American businesswoman at centre of “BoJen” political scandal confided in four friends about affair with Boris while he was London mayor - Insight investigation in tomorrow’s @thesundaytimes @Arbuthnott
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1. EXCLUSIVE: A criminal hacking gang targeted critics of Qatar who threatened to expose wrongdoing by the Gulf state in the run-up to this month’s World Cup. thetimes.co.uk/article/expos…
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Very exciting moment as the first copy of our new book just arrived. It will be published on March 18th.
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Conservative Party accused of abusing the honours system by systematically offering seats in the House of Lords to a select group of multimillionaire donors who pay more than £3 million to the party - Insight & @openDemocracy investigation reveals
thetimes.co.uk/article/5d481…
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Fifa's response reminds me of this classic - when @HeidilBlake and I revealed the @thesundaytimes Fifa Files:
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In the latest episode of the Stories of our Times podcast @Arbuthnott and I tell the story behind @sundaytimes Insight’s investigation into the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. We rebut the government’s subsequent criticism. play.acast.com/s/storiesofou… via @acast
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Exposed: Cash for Passports Scandal - Russian millionaires with links to Vladimir Putin can buy access to British passports by exploiting a flawed Home Office scheme fast-tracking the super-rich. Undercover investigation by @thesundaytimes and @C4Dispatches @Arbuthnott
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Revealed … the secret files that expose a multibillion-pound cover-up at HS2. Whistleblowers allege the escalating costs of the high speed line were deliberately kept secret from the public and parliament. With @Arbuthnott
thetimes.co.uk/article/5d44e…
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Today we reveal that one of most senior special forces commanders in the British army broke ranks and told the military police that SAS soldiers under his command were suspected of executing prisoners in Afghanistan. With @Arbuthnott and @DavidCollinsST
thetimes.co.uk/article/a66bc…
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Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle with Coronavirus by... amazon.co.uk/dp/0008430527/r… via @AmazonUK
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And this is our earlier article on how we had already lost a vital 38 days in tackling the virus before the final dither over lockdown which Ferguson says cost thousands of lives @thesundaytimes thetimes.co.uk/article/coron…
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Wuhan Virology Lab still has miners’ blood samples from cave where the nearest known relative to Sars-Cov2 was found. It’s in an addendum to the Nature paper. No mention of whether they tested for RaTG13. nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
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Revealed: prime minister Boris, the trade missions, the public money and the ex-model tech entrepreneur friend. An Insight investigation in tomorrow’s @thesundaytimes
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Thanks Marina. Kind of you. Despite the vaccination roll-out, the poor decision-making that led to many thousands of unnecessary deaths was an avoidable scandal. Really sad to read about your column this week about the horrific Mr Wonderer. That sounded awful.
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“Kremlinesque” - read the rebuttal to the government’s heavy handed attack on @thesundaytimes. thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/…
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The World Health Organisation missed its only chance to avert the Covid-19 pandemic after a campaign by the Chinese state to secure influence over its decision-making, an @thesundaytimes investigation has revealed. @Arbuthnott
thetimes.co.uk/article/china…
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REVEALED: If you thought the use of EPO in cycling was bad, it's nothing compared to athletics thetim.es/1SRN5bT #dopingscandal
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The first episode of our Stories of our times podcast on the origins of Covid-19 is out today. Discuss the risky lab experiments being carried out in Wuhan in the lead up to the pandemic - with @Arbuthnott @ManveenRana
podcasts.apple.com/in/podcas…
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Congratulations to @hajo Seppelt at ARD/WDR for his incredible work exposing institutionalised doping in Russia.
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Coronavirus: 38 days when Britain sleepwalked into disaster
thetimes.co.uk/article/coron…
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Will Qatar lose the right to host the World Cup? This fabulous article by @HeidilBlake @buzzfeed is a must read. buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/blat…
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HRH Prince Michael has been secretly filmed at a meeting in which prospective clients were told he could be hired for £10,000 to seek favours from Vladimir Putin’s tyrannical regime - a @thesundaytimes/@C4Dispatches investigation reveals.
thetimes.co.uk/article/princ…
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Revealed: the corporate spies who video homes and rifle through bins. Today @thetimes and @TBIJ investigation reveal how former agents and elite soldiers deploy intrusive surveillance techniques on behalf of oligarchs, businesses and autocratic regimes. thetimes.co.uk/article/how-o…
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Spin doctors’ defence of Boris Johnson’s handling of the virus crumbles as heavyweights weigh in. Read the rebuttal of government’s extraordinary ‘Kremlin-esque’ attack on @thesundaytimes. @arbuthnott thetimes.co.uk/article/coron…
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Secret report identifies trail of couples butchered in their beds sparking fear serial killer may be at large. Cheshire police now reviewing the report and have contacted other forces @thesundaytimes @Arbuthnott and @DavidCollinsST
thetimes.co.uk/article/trail…
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Our first review of Failures of State was very quick off the mark and thankfully it’s a very kind one from @Freedland ... thanks Jonathan and @guardian theguardian.com/books/2021/m…
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A “meticulous, damning investigation” into Boris’s handling of the pandemic - read former Labour minister Alan Johnson’s review of our new book Failures of State in @ObserverUK today. @HarperNonFic @Arbuthnott
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4. The Qatar critics hacked include Michel Platini, the former head of European football, who was targeted shortly before he was due to talk to French police about corruption allegations relating to his decision to vote for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup
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Police swoop on "doping ring" linked to British athletes - new Insight investigation in tomorrow's @thesundaytimes #dopingscandal
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Every top party treasurer in the last seven years gave £3m and every one was offered a peerage. A great untold scandal, according to the party’s own former cabinet ministers - an investigation by Insight and @openDemocracy reveals.
thetimes.co.uk/article/9182f…
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12. The gang seized control of computers owned by Pakistan’s politicians, generals and diplomats and eavesdropped on their private conversations apparently at the behest of the Indian secret services.
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5. I was hacked along with two other investigative journalists shortly after they had also written about Qatar’s underhand campaign to host the tournament
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2.The gang’s boss told undercover reporters that Qatar was the ultimate client behind the cyber attacks.
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6. Other victims include: a former FIFA investigator; the author of a report on World Cup corruption; a lawyer making a complaint about the Qatar royal family to the United Nations Human Rights Council; and a French politician investigating Qatar's alleged financing of terrorism.
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3. The Sunday Times and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism have been given access to the gang's secret database revealing the extraordinary scale of computer hacking carried out for private investigators working for autocratic states, British lawyers and wealthy clients.
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Fifa's latest response reminds me of this classic - when @HeidilBlake and I went to them with the Fifa Files:
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Delighted to have won the Paul Foot Awards with @HeidilBlake for the #FIFAFiles. Read the full story in our forthcoming book #TheUglyGame
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#dopingscandal IAAF suspend 28 athletes - only took them 10 years but we're delighted they've acted a few days after our story.
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Judge Warby finds Tim Yeo's libel trial evidence "implausible", "unreliable", "dishonest", "untruthful", "untrue" and "unworthy of belief".
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7. Our investigation - based on the leaked documents and undercover work in India - can further reveal that orders went out to the gang to target the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason in May, three weeks after his appointment was announced
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Listen to the shocking story unearthed by our investigation into allegations that a rogue SAS execution squad carried out and then covered up civilian massacres in Afghanistan - @Arbuthnott , @DavidCollinsST and myself talk to @ManveenRana podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas…
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8. The president of Switzerland and his deputy were targeted just days after he met Boris Johnson and Liz Truss in Downing Street to discuss Russian sanctions
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11. The hackers broke into the email inboxes of the Formula One motor racing bosses Ruth Buscombe, the British head of race strategy at the Alfa Romeo team, and Otmar Szafnauer, who was chief executive of the Aston Martin team.
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The millionaire Tory donor, his huge Chelsea apartment block and more than 100 prostitutes who advertise their services there: an #Insight investigation in tomorrow’s @thesundaytimes @JCalvertST @KatieWeston1 @conradduncan1 @RosamundUrwin
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King Charles and his eldest son make millions from feudal levies on schools, hospitals, homeowners and the very charities they represent - listen to the podcast talking about this weekend’s investigation with @C4Dispatches podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas…
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Ex-health secretary Lord Lansley secretly filmed offering to provide Brexit intelligence to Chinese firm seeking to pay him tens of thousands of pounds - Insight and Channel 4’s Dispatches can reveal. Read tomorrow’s Sunday Times. @thesundaytimes @Arbuthnott @C4Dispatches
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10. A private investigator hired by a London law firm acting for the Russian state ordered the gang to target a British-based oligarch fleeing President Putin.
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Today Australian philanthropist Judith Neilson AM announces $100m contribution to journalism - “Through targeted funding and education we can strengthen journalism and help restore faith in its central role in a healthy democracy.” – view here jninstitute.org
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Ex-cabinet ministers secretly filmed in “Cash for Brexit” scandal - following Insight and Channel 4 Dispatches investigation. See tomorrow’s Sunday Times @thesundaytimes @Arbuthnott @C4Dispatches
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9. Phillip Hammond, then Chancellor, was hacked as he was dealing with the fallout of Russia’s Novichok poisonings in Salisbury
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Offer of £10,000 a month was not enough to hire Lord Cunningham as a lobbyist - he wanted £12,000 to call it a deal. #westminsterforsale
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In the latest episode of the Stories of our times podcast @garbuthnott and I tell the story behind @sundaytimes Insight team’s investigation into the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis. We also rebut the government’s subsequent criticism. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas…
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PODCAST: The Secret Files that Expose a Multi-Billion Pound Cover Up at HS2
We take you behind the scenes inside our investigation w/@garbuthnott @LukeJones
Produced by @jshield
thetimes.co.uk/article/hs2-b…
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Court of Appeal finds ex Tory treasurer Peter Cruddas corruptly offered secret meetings with David Cameron for cash.
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Thanks John. Kind of you. Yes, we found it extraordinary, as observers of Covid policy over the last year, to watch how of much of the human suffering and financial catastrophe was foreseeable and therefore preventable.
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And congrats to Insight's fantastic @Arbuthnott & @DavidCollinsST: today nominated for Press Awards Scoop & Cudlipp for the doping scandal.
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The fully updated edition of Failures of State is available for just 99p on Kindle @Amazon until midnight tonight. Download your copy here: smarturl.it/failuresofstate_…
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Fascinating play at Edinburgh from @PopcornJSB #zero (my daughter's friends) dealing with difficult but important issue of rape/consent.
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