Democracy for Sale

3 weeks ago | democracyforsale.substack.com | Lucas Amin |Peter Geoghegan

Keir Starmer is a big believer in the power of technology. The Prime Minister said that AI will “turbocharge” Britain. But critics say his Labour government is far too close to Big Tech. That concern was laid bare this week in a tense House of Lords debate over AI and copyright. One peer urged ministers to “stop listening to the large tech companies in America”.

4 weeks ago | democracyforsale.substack.com | Peter Geoghegan

By Peter Geoghegan and Max ColbertNigel Farage has often described himself as ‘pro-choice’ - but this week the Reform leader declared that plans to decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks are “utterly ludicrous”. Farage’s comments were striking. Not least as the abortion proposals have been backed by a cross-party group of MPs. But the Reform leader is not the only figure on the political right who seems to have a growing interest in Britain’s abortion laws.

1 month ago | democracyforsale.substack.com | Lucas Amin |Peter Geoghegan

The data held by the NHS is often said to be among the world’s most valuable. Where else would you find detailed health records for more than 65 million people? So when the Conservative government awarded US spy tech firm Palantir a £330 million contract in 2023 to build a new NHS data platform, the backlash was immediate—centring on concerns over privacy and ethics.

1 month ago | democracyforsale.substack.com | Peter Geoghegan

By Nick DeardenThis morning’s news headlines have been dominated by one story: the prospect of a trade deal between the US and the UK. Donald Trump is expected to announce the deal from the White House at 3pm British time. Details of the negotiations have been shrouded in secrecy for months: to ‘protect the national interest’, say Keir Starmer’s ministers this morning as they do the media rounds. But even after this afternoon’s big reveal many questions are likely to remain.

1 month ago | democracyforsale.substack.com | Peter Geoghegan |Lucas Amin

Peter here. British politics right now could be summed up in a single word: ‘Reform’. Nigel Farage’s party had major wins last week. Reform also clearly spent big. I know from talking to journalists that Reform had an unprecedented ground operation ahead of the Runcorn by-election, and was very visible on the streets in many local contests. So who paid for all this? The answer is, we don’t know. During general elections, political donations are published weekly.