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Democracy for Sale

A newsletter dedicated to revealing how dark money and hidden influence threaten our democracy

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The 700 freebies: how lobbyists and businesses courted Labour's special advisers

A Democracy for Sale investigation reveals the scale of hospitality accepted by ‘spads’ – and how little the public is allowed to know about it

Burnham is failing his first big test as PM

The prime minister has the chance to end the power of the super-rich in British politics – he’s not taking it

“Don’t Eat the Lettuce”: Notes from Trump’s US

From tainted salad to a $400m ballroom, I got a preview of democracy hollowing out from within – and a warning Britain can't afford to ignore.

How the super-rich are buying UK democracy

Our new video series shows how British politics is bought and sold – and what can be done about it

Revealed: the foreign governments behind Westminster's cross-party groups

Foreign states aren't meant to fund the organisations running parliamentary groups. Our investigation found evidence that some do.

Richard Tice and Reform’s money - the new unanswered question

Before the 2024 election, Farage's deputy told me he'd stop donating to Reform - so why did £1m from George Cottrell's mother go to one of his companies weeks later?

Inside Britain's university crisis

As teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter

Is Andy Burnham ready to confront corruption?

Britons are squeamish about using the ‘c— word’, says Robert Barrington, but to fix the problem we must first accept we have one

What has Palantir ever done for us?

Beeban Kidron and James Ball join me to talk Big Tech and British democracy - plus we've been shortlisted for an award

Ditch Palantir's £330m NHS contract, MPs and campaigners tell Burnham

After our investigation revealed ‘clunky’ and ‘slow’ software, internal complaints and a £30,000-a-month lobbying operation, pressure is mounting to trigger Palantir ‘break clause’

"It's just a waste of time": inside Palantir's £330m NHS failure

Our new investigation reveals the problems with Palantir’s NHS tech - and the unrivalled political access that fuelled the firm’s march into the British state

How to stop Reform’s dark money

Plus: watch video with Franz Wild on how super rich are using London's libel courts to silence critics

Farage has done us all a favour

Now we need a modern day Martin Bell

Revealed: the Russian ties of Liz Truss's radical right conference

CPAC UK was set up by a lawyer who worked with sanctioned 'notorious kleptocrat' - and speakers include politicians linked to pro-Kremlin networks and Moscow talking points