Page 5 - Tim Durrant News Today

Christopher Geidt, a former private secretary to Queen Elizabeth, was appointed Britain's independent adviser on ministers' interests on Wednesday, overseeing the government's ministerial code of conduct.

BBC News By Cristina Criddle image copyrightGetty Images Ministers could be banned from using platforms such as WhatsApp and Signal for formal communications, if a legal challenge is successful. Campaigning law group Foxglove, on behalf of transparency campaigners The Citizens, has accused the government of having no legal policies on “government by text”. Members of both the cabinet and shadow cabinet use WhatsApp and Signal. The government told the BBC it adheres to guidance. "Appropria...

BBC News By Justin Parkinson image copyrightGetty Images The lobbying controversy that has enveloped Westminster is a complex and fast-developing story but there is one strand running right through the centre of it - the smartphone. WhatsApp and text messages have replaced face-to-face meetings and letters as the favourite method of communication for politicians. The casual, and sometimes untraceable, nature of these communications can make it harder for the Civil Service to ensure everyone - ...

BBC News By Justin Parkinson image copyrightGetty Images The lobbying controversy that has enveloped Westminster is a complex and fast-developing story but there is one strand running right through the centre of it - the smartphone. WhatsApp and text messages have replaced face-to-face meetings and letters as the favourite method of communication for politicians. The casual, and sometimes untraceable, nature of these communications can make it harder for the Civil Service to ensure everyone - ...

Dont show me this message again✕ Article bookmarked Dont show me this message again✕ Department of Office Furniture (Getty Images) Thanks to Laocoon for suggesting this tribute to Shirley Williams, who died this month, and who was once secretary of state for prices. I restricted it to the names of actual government departments, rather than ministerial titles or responsibilities (Denis Howell, minister for drought, was a popular one); there was an actual Department of Prices and Consumer Pr...

Boris Johnson personally promised Sir James Dyson he would “fix” an issue over the tax status of his employees after being directly lobbied by the entrepreneur, it has been reported. Labour has claimed there is “evidence” the Prime Minister may have breached the ministerial code with the exchanges regarding ventilators at the height of the coronavirus crisis, which were revealed by the BBC. It comes amid intense controversy at Westminster over lobbying following the disclosures of David...

Just one in 100 Government Covid-19 contracts worth an eye-watering £17.3billion was awarded by competitive tender raising more questions about whether the taxpayer has been getting value for money during the pandemic, it was revealed today. Companies with no experience of supplying masks, gloves and aprons won lucrative Government deals in the shambolic scramble for contracts - with critics calling it the Wild West.  The Institute for Government (IfG) says it has found little evidence of com...

We need to know whether cabinet ministers using private e—mails to discuss sensitive and secret documents for business could breach the freedom of information act, the official secrets act, and legislation on data protection and the maintenance of public records. i mean, this is really serious, you know? ministers using their private e—mail to conduct government business, why would they do that if theyre not hiding anything? they know the rules around this and they breached those rules. and,...