Kemi Badenoch’s party has been receiving money from fossil fuel interests while pursuing anti-climate policies.
The Conservatives received a hefty sum from oil and gas investors and those with roles at anti-climate campaign groups during the period when the party rolled back a key climate commitment.
New records released today reveal that Kemi Badenoch’s party accepted £50,000 in January from Neil Record, the chair of Net Zero Watch, the campaign arm of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) – the UK’s foremost climate science denial group.
In March, Badenoch announced that the Conservatives would no longer be advocating for the UK to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 – the goal currently pursued by the government. In a speech hosted by an advertising group that works for the oil giant Shell, Badenoch suggested that we are “bankrupting ourselves” in the pursuit of the 2050 target.
Tories Ditched Net Zero Commitment While Receiving £250,000 from Oil Investors and Climate Deniers
Category: Tory corruption
The Tory sleaze and by-election list
Just how many MPs have the Tories lost since the last election?
North Shropshire: Tory MP Owen Paterson resigned after the standards watchdog found he had broken lobbying rules. The by-election was held on 16 December 2021. Liberal Democrats gain.
Wakefield: In May of 2022, former Tory and sex offender, MP Imran Ahmad Khan, was sentenced to 18 months in jail for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy after plying him with gin at a party in 2008. The by-election was held on 23 June 2022. Labour gain.
Tiverton and Honiton: Tory MP, Neil Parish, resigned after admitting to watching porn in the House of Commons. The by-election was on 23 June 2022. Liberal Democrats gain.
Uxbridge and South Ruislip: After the resignation of Boris Johnson on 12 June 2023, a by-election was held on 20 July 2023. The Tory party managed to get Steve Tuckwell elected. Tory hold.
Selby and Ainsty: The resignation of Nigel Adams on 12 June 2023 led to another 20 July 2023 by-election. Labour gain.
Somerton and Frome: David Warburton resigned following his suspension from the Tory party over harassment and drug abuse claims. The by-election was held on 20 July 2023. Liberal Democrats gain.
Mid Bedfordshire: After the resignation of Tory MP Nadine Dorries on 29 August 2023, there was a by-election on 19 October 2023. Labour gain.
Tamworth: After the resignation of Christopher Pincher following suspension from the Troy party on 7 September 2023, there was a by-election on 19 October 2023. Labour gain.
You may remember 19 October 2023 as the day of the worst losses in Tory safe seats in recent history.
For those of you keeping score, the Tories faced 8 by-elections and lost 7 of them. There will probably be another one soon.
Dominic Raab resigns over bullying report [BBC]
Dominic Raab has resigned as justice secretary and deputy prime minister after an inquiry into allegations of bullying.
The five-month probe, by a senior lawyer, was set up by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after complaints about Mr Raab’s behaviour as a minister.
Dominic Raab resigns over bullying report, BBC
Beware Hunt’s hype. There’s more poverty ahead and his budget did nothing to change that [The Guardian]
The statement will be remembered for the childcare pledge, but there was nothing to meet the scale of Britain’s economic malaise
Aditya Chakrabortty, The Guardian
Who are BFS GROUP LTD and why do the Tories keep giving them taxpayer money?
According to a new report, Tory MP Robert Buckland oversaw a steady transfer of government money to BFS GROUP LTD. See the spend here. It is unclear how much of Buckland’s £46,701,496 spending lined the pocket of this unknown group.
A quick Google suggests they are a catering company or a wholesale food distributor.
It is hard to say much more as their website doesn’t work:
Wikipedia has this to say about BFS Group Limited:
Bidfood (formerly known as 3663, Bidvest 3663 and Bidvest Foodservice) is a Foodservice Wholesaler and distributor based in the United Kingdom.[1]
The BFS Group Limited was a wholly owned subsidiary of Bidvest, an international services, trading and distribution company listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa.[2] It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of BidCorp, also listed on the JSE. BidCorp, the Bid Corporation Limited, is the holding company of the Bidvest Group Limited.
Bidfood, Wikipedia
None of that explains why there are 100+ spends of over a thousand pounds each recorded for a single day – 01/01/2021.
Tory spending of tax payer money on lavish hotels, furnishings and booze
Indulgent Tory spending of public money has been publicised in a new report.
A “lavish spending” culture in Whitehall has seen taxpayers’ money wasted on luxury items, Labour claimed after an analysis of the use of government procurement cards (GPCs).
Labour raised concern about dining and alcohol purchases, including almost £345,000 by Foreign Office (FCDO) officials in 2021 under the heading “restaurants and bars”, entertainment and evidence of end-of-year spending sprees to use up budgets.
‘Scandalous’ Tory government spending on lavish hotels, furnishings and booze revealed, The Independent
The Indie goes on to say that the Tories wrongly declared thousands of pounds worth of alcohol as “computer equipment”. Not only that but under the Tories, £344,803 was spanked on alcohol in 2021
Tory ministers accused of five-star lifestyle and using public money “like a cash machine”
The Guardian is reporting that Labour plans to release a dossier tomorrow that will show that the Tories have been treating the public like their own personal cash machine. They have, it is reported, been living it up with luxury travel and five-star hotels.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are worrying about how we will pay for food and heating.
Starmer says Sunak is leading a party “addicted to sleaze and scandal” (The Independent)
Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of leading a party that has an “addiction to sleaze and scandal.”
The Labour leader made the comments during a heated PMQs session on Wednesday, 1 February.
He said the economy was “shrinking faster” than Mr Sunak’s leadership and the justice system lets “murderers walk the streets.”
Sir Starmer also raised questions on his handling of former Tory party chairman Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs.
The prime minister accused Sir Starmer of taking the side of “extremist protesters and union bosses.”
Starmer says Sunak is leading a party “addicted to sleaze and scandal”, The Independent, YouTube
Is Sunak still collecting Russia-related blood money?
In March of 2022, The Guardian reported that Sunak’s wife was profiting from Russian money. Are they still collecting Russian blood money?
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is under mounting pressure over accusations that his wife, Akshata Murthy, is collecting “bloody money” in dividends from a family company that has refused to pull out of Russia, despite Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats are calling on Sunak to answer “very serious questions” over Murthy’s estimated $900m (£690m) stake in the IT services and consultancy company Infosys.
Sunak under pressure over wife’s Russia-related ‘blood money’ dividends, The Guardian)