Gareth Davies
@Gareth_Davies09
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Editor @BureauLocal | @TBIJ | Investigative Journalist | garethdavies @tbij .com |
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Booing the Danish national anthem. Shining a laser pen at Schmeichel as the penalty was taken. Why is that (some) England fans never miss a chance to bring shame on the country?
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I kid you not a radio producer just called me and asked if I'd go on air to talk about the Coleen Rooney vs Rebekah Vardy spat "from an investigative journalist's perspective"
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I contacted Thurrock MP
@JackieDP
ahead of the story that her local council has a catastrophic £500m deficit. She said she doesn’t comment on leaks.
Her partner is Mark Coxshall, leader of Thurrock Council
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This is amazing. 1,000 people a week using Blackpool food banks.
Oh, by the way, vote Tory
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@simonharris_mbd
Even if they did - who cares? It's the holiday they are entitled to. Teaching isn't a 9-to-5 job. My partner works until gone 10pm most weeknights and many weekends. No idea why teachers and other school staff get so much disrespect
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BREAKING: Toucan Energy Holdings 1, the company which owes Thurrock Council £655m, has gone into administration
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Terminating the contract of a player, who was in the starting line up just a few days ago, because no one thought to check the limit of how many international loans you can have, is a farce and makes the club look like a two-bit operation
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This week will be further proof of why every magistrates’ court in the country should be covered by at least one court reporter. People, especially those directly affected, need to see justice being done to these so-called protestors
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THREAD: Thurrock Council, to what should now be the surprise of no one, has effectively declared bankruptcy.
Today's Section 114 notice has been expected for weeks. What's more remarkable is the continued attempts of local Conservatives to distance themselves from the calamity
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BREAKING: Thurrock Council reveals £500m black hole caused by failed investments - the biggest funding gap ever reported by a UK local authority
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@ESPNUK
I like a list as much as the next guy but this endless insistence on having to rank players against each other is pretty tiresome. The actual answer is they're all superb players in the form of their lives.
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My 4-year-old nearly caused national food shortage this morning. Got hold of mum's phone while she slept and ordered 990 mini Peperamis, and a combined 1,200 bakewell tarts and Fab ice lollies from Tesco. Total order £451.27. Even booked a delivery slot
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BREAKING: Thurrock Council leader Rob Gledhill resigns as government prepares to announce intervention over investment scandal revealed by
@TBIJ
investigation
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It's increasingly clear there is only one figure in British politics capable of leading us out of this crisis
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Here's what will happen:
- All restrictions will be removed
- New variants will emerge (and spread from and to the UK) over summer
- Another lockdown in October/November
- Christmas cancelled
- PM will tell country we didn't take enough "personal responsibility"
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A businessman and a council officer met at a Mayfair hotel. Now
@TBIJ
asks - where is £138m of taxpayers' money?
My latest investigation, three-years in the making
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This just isn’t newsworthy - in any way, shape or form. He’s a desperate wind up merchant and there’s no justification at all for Sky, or anyone else, to give oxygen to this rubbish
Joey Barton criticises Mary Earps being crowned Sports Personality of the Year and says he would score '100 out of 100 penalties' against her
Read more ⬇
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Crisis-hit Thurrock Council owes other local authorities nearly £1bn. I asked them which councils and, unsurprisingly, received no reply. So here's a 🧵of my ongoing attempts to trace all that 💰💰💰
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We (journalists) need to change the way we respond to tragedy. These are people not stories
I have dealt with 50+ journos online today. Two found my mobile number. This cunt found my house. I still don't know if my brother is alive.
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Let’s be absolutely clear: attempts to downplay the virus by citing death rates based on age or ‘pre-existing conditions’ - i.e. defining people using crudely defined categories and suggesting their deaths are less significant - is fascism, no ifs or buts
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@ESPNUK
I'm just happy two of them are English. Rashford, Kane and Saka is one hell of a front three.
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Exclusive: Croydon Council issues Section 114 notice - effectively the equivalent of bankruptcy - with immediate effect
It's the first local authority to do so since Northamptonshire County Council in 2018
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Thrilled to have been appointed editor of
@BureauLocal
, a team I have been a part of since it was set up six years ago.
We’ve achieved a lot in that time, alongside journalists and communities across the UK. I can’t wait to work with them on even bigger & better things.
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I remain surprised by how little attention this is getting from national media.
Hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money in grave danger. Sure, things have gone seriously wrong in Thurrock but also huge questions about systemic issues that contributed to this scandal
BREAKING: Toucan Energy Holdings 1, the company which owes Thurrock Council £655m, has gone into administration
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After a *three year* battle,
@thurrockcouncil
has been ordered to reveal exactly how it borrowed and invested £1bn of taxpayers' money.
It's a decision which will hopefully have wider implications for the transparency of public bodies across the UK.
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Marcus Rashford is a 23-year-old professional footballer and part-time Secretary of State for Education
Wanted to share key points from a conversation with
@Chartwells_UK
this morning.
There is a meeting scheduled between Chartwells and
@educationgovuk
today.
(1)
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Today three local authorities, beset by huge financial problems entirely of their own making, have been given permission to hike council tax far beyond the usual limits.
How can it be right that residents of Thurrock, Croydon and Slough will pay the price for these scandals?
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Good luck to all journalists covering tonight’s counts but particularly local reporters who do a great job which is mostly taken for granted
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What's happening in Thurrock deserves more attention. A council recklessly borrowed £1bn from other (apathetic) local authorities and then risked it all on secretive and ultimately disastrous money-spinning deals. Now there's no choice but to give it hundreds of millions more
BREAKING: Thurrock Council has been given permission to borrow nearly £850m from the public purse as an “urgent solution” to meet its debt repayments, mostly to other local authorities
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We've partnered with
@GoodLawProject
to launch a legal challenge the secrecy surrounding
@thurrockcouncil
's £1bn taxpayer funded borrowing and investments. Here
@bureaulocal
editor
@EmilyWilsonUK
explains more ⬇️
1️⃣ council
💸 £138 million
❔ Lots of questions to be answered
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@SpursOfficial
Completely ridiculous that Spence doesn’t even get a start against a League One side. A total slap in the face
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Exclusive:
@Thurrockcouncil
set to suspend chief executive, having also suspended chief finance officer, as fallout from
@TBIJ
investigation continues
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This JFK/Cambridge News perfect example of what makes working in local news so great. Literally anything can happen
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The rogue businessman, a missing £130m and potentially the largest fraud ever committed against a UK local authority
An "utterly damning" investigation for
@TBIJ
and tonight's
@BBCPanorama
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@SpursOfficial
His best performance for the club. 90 minute battle with Grealish and he came out on top.
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This follows my three-year investigation which, in July, revealed that £138m of public money was unaccounted for as a result of secretive deals between a council officer and a businessman at a Mayfair hotel
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@SpursOfficial
Big shame, and another example of our ridiculous transfer policy. Sign a player, barely play him, then let him leave on loan to the club we bought him from, leaving us short in that area again. I just don't get it
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BREAKING: Thurrock Council has been given permission to borrow nearly £850m from the public purse as an “urgent solution” to meet its debt repayments, mostly to other local authorities
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Full list:
990 mini Peperamis
120 Viennese Whirls
594 Bakewells
594 Fabs
184 Oranges
11 packs of pine nuts
24 rashers of bacon
24 Cumberland sausages
2 cans of deodorant
2 packs of Frubes
36 packs of Mini Cheddars
8 fishcakes
A pack of strawberries
A bunch of bananas
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Really pleased to have been shortlisted at the British Journalism Awards for Investigation of the Year for the joint
@TBIJ
&
@BBCPanorama
story & programme 'The Sunshine Millionaire - How One Man Took £130m from British taxpayers'
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Up against stiff competition but this may be the dumbest thing a UK politician has said all year
"Judges should be under some form of democratic control that guarantees their independence" says
@SuzanneEvans1
#r4today
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@SpursOfficial
Hopefully their manager treats him better than ours, and doesn't write him off the moment he arrives.
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Even if you have no interest in computer games you should watch this video of the new Microsoft Flight Simulator. The technology is jaw-dropping
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In July an investigation by
@TBIJ
revealed that independent experts had valued the sites as much as £200m less than required for the council to recoup its investments in full
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Thrilled that my investigation into Thurrock’s
#missingmilions
has been shortlisted for Investigation of the Year at the British Journalism Awards alongside some amazing stories
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How can a local council spend £655m and
- Tell public & councillors next to nothing while doing it
- Reject all FOI requests
- Refuse interviews
- Block councillors from asking questions about it
These things should not be possible in a functioning democracy
#Thurrock
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"The Conservatives have saddled us with over one and a half billion pounds of debt, a massive hole in the budget and facing bankruptcy"
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My timeline is full of young reporters, some only a few months into their careers, announcing they’ve lost their jobs in the latest round of Reach redundancies. None are responsible for the position the company finds itself in but, as usual, they have to pay the price
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@SpursOfficial
What message does it send to the players, both in the starting XI and on the bench, if you make no changes after a performance like that? Absolutely baffling
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This is great, but when Corbyn suggested doing this wasn't he called a Communist?
Sixty-eight apartments in luxury block near site of Grenfell Tower acquired to house fire survivors, government says
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My father died last week. We had a difficult relationship and there are things I now wish I could say to him. But I'm glad to have the opportunity to put on record what a brilliant journalist he was.
Campaigning former local newspaper editor Steve Davies has died aged 72. His investigative journalism saw him brutally attacked by a gang and forced to move with his family. Obit by his son, investigative journalist
@Gareth_Davies09
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They aren't "local" journalists, at least not in the patronising use of the term.
They're journalists who work for local or regional media. And they're doing an often thankless, poorly paid task brilliantly.
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One week, four Sun front pages objectifying women (when there's no shortage of actual news to report)
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TEH1 owns 53 solar farms across the UK, the purchase of which was largely financed by Thurrock Council.
In a statement released today, administrators Interpath Advisory said the company sought administration "after concluding that its liabilities exceeded its assets"
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@AdamBienkov
Personally think this is more likely than Johnson running. Ties in with the rumours about his endorsements. Allows him to save face (‘I had 100 but decided against it’) while avoiding the hassle or responsibility of trying to make a return
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Firstly a brief reminder of the context. As a direct result of secret and ultimately failed investments, Thurrock Council has reported a budget gap approaching £500m (yes, half a billion pounds in a single year) - *the largest deficit of any local authority in history*
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These deals began in May 2016. In following years the council borrowed £1bn from other local authorities and poured the money into high risk business deals, all while telling the public next to nothing.
All of this happened under a Conservative administration.
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@GaryLineker
@HKane
It would be much better if he honoured the contract he signed and didn’t try to force a move by refusing to train (as it appears he is doing). Don’t blame him for wanting a move but doing it like this is deeply unprofessional. But, then again, that’s modern football
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Croydon is an entirely Catholic city. Any non-Catholics are beaten by squads of nuns armed with rulers
#foxnewsfacts
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I’d like to give some of my spare time to aspiring/early career journalists.
So, if you want advice, contacts or I can help in any other way, my DMs are open
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I should point out he did say it would be a tongue in cheek which is a shame as I was actually going to point out Coleen failed to offer Rebekah the right of reply
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Those are questions former council leader Rob Gledhill, finance member Shane Hebb and current leader Mark Coxshall, partner of local Tory MP
@JackieDP
, have repeatedly refused to answer (at no point have any of them agreed to my repeated requests for interview, for example)
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Take the headline of today's press release:
THURROCK COUNCIL TAKES MAJOR STEP TO FINANCIAL RECOVERY
Is that an appropriate way of declaring bankruptcy as a result of disastrous investments involving vast sums of public money and going cap in hand to the government for help?
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I seem to recall, in the early weeks of the war in Ukraine, we recoiled in horror at clips of Russian protestors being bundled away by the police for holding blank pieces of paper. Turns out the UK was just behind the curve
Just went to Parliament Square & held up a blank piece of paper. Officer came & asked for my details. He confirmed that if I wrote “Not My King” on it, he would arrest me under the Public Order Act because someone might be offended.
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Our investigation found numerous high end purchases during this period, including a £22m country estate, a £10m private jet and a fleet of super cars
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A three-year investigation by
@TBIJ
, hampered at virtually every stage by the council, uncovered serious flaws with the investments that threaten to cost the public hundreds of millions of pounds
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Labour group leader
@TheJohnKent
said: "Today’s statement confirms what we knew all along - that Thurrock Conservative’s reckless borrowing and investment strategy never added up and was always going to end in disaster. (1/2)
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That situation, the circumstances leading to it, and wider concern with borrowing and investments in excess of £1bn, prompted urgent government intervention in September, with Thurrock's statutory financial powers being given to commissioners from Essex County Council
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The budget report shows that four investments made by the Conservative-run council are expected to lose £275m of taxpayers' money
But, once again, the council does not name the companies involved or how much went into each deal.
So tonight
@TBIJ
has done that...
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I'm going to pretend I said no because I'm a serious journalist and not because I'd probably panic and forget the names of everyone involved
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My timeline today has been full of talented local reporters facing the threat of redundancy and few, if any, high profile voices talking out in support of them. It’s vital, now more than ever, that communities have well-staffed and resources local media. In fact it’s a necessity
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@SpursOfficial
@trippier2
@kylewalker2
Give Kyle Walker-Peters a run out. Kyle Walker's only two-thirds the player he is...
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In the press release, hilariously describing the "bespoke financial assistance" now required from the government, leader Mark Coxshall described his "shock" at the position is now in...
...despite having served as a cabinet member while all the deals were being made
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This extra investment, which is currently unaccounted for, was agreed following undeclared meetings between Kavanagh and Sean Clark, the council's chief financial officer, at a five star Mayfair hotel
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In total the council could lose up to £200m of public money = money which it borrowed from dozens of other councils across the UK. You can follow my attempts to trace that cash here
Crisis-hit Thurrock Council owes other local authorities nearly £1bn. I asked them which councils and, unsurprisingly, received no reply. So here's a 🧵of my ongoing attempts to trace all that 💰💰💰
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The administrators will now seek to find buyers for the 53 solar farms in order for Thurrock Council, as the company's major creditor, to be recoup as much of its investment as possible
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@WootenWyatt
@lapatina_
How can you see a video of a strike in which maybe hundreds of civilians have been killed and say the solution is to kill other civilians?
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We've been trying to sign Porro all month and somehow found ourselves in the position of having to terminate the contract of a senior member of the squad. Baffling. No one can convince there's a plan in anything Tottenham does
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I’ve read a lot of ‘attack on freedom of speech’ takes but I don’t buy it. Press freedom shouldn’t mean the freedom to deliberately mislead/misinform with impunity. People who feel that way have found a peaceful way to protest. Fair enough I say
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Derbyshire Pension Fund loaned Thurrock Council £30m according to reporter
@EddieBisk
.
Every local reporter should do the same and ask local council and pension fund administrator whether they have outstanding lending to Thurrock
This is huge. So many councils have helped to fund Thurrock Council's investment portfolio over the years.
As of a report this week, the Derbyshire Pension Fund, overseen by the county council, has £30 million invested in Thurrock Council
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