Jonathan Calvert and Clare Newell
The Sunday Times
Financial corruption in parliament – cash for influence
FOLLOWING the MPs’ expenses scandal, the Sunday Times Insight team has continued to keep the spotlight on financial corruption within parliament. The three most prominent articles from this campaign over the past year were the investigation into Lord Taylor of Warwick, which resulted in the peer being charged with fraud; the Lord Paul exposé which led to his suspension from parliament; and the cash-for-influence scandal (in collaboration with Channel 4’s Dispatches) which caught ex-ministers offering political favours to a fake lobbyist in return for cash and provided that memorable quote from Stephen Byers: “I’m like a cab for hire”.
By last autumn the police investigation into Lord Taylor had stalled. But Insight revealed in December that he had fraudulently claimed thousands of pounds by using someone else’s address pretending it was his main home. Insight further discovered that in October, the multimillionaire Lord Paul had claimed £38,000 by saying a one-bedroom flat occupied by the manager of one of his hotels was his “main home”.
The third submission, the cash-for-influence scandal, then dominated the headlines in late March, giving new meaning to the term Buyers & Sellers.
The Paul Foot Award 2024
Closed for Submissions
The Paul Foot Award for Investigative and Campaigning Journalism has now closed for submissions for the year 2024. The winning entry will be awarded £8,000 at an Awards Ceremony on 11th June 2024.
Queries
Queries should be directed to:
Emily Laidlaw
Midas PR
Tel: 07384 268 734
Email: Emily.Laidlaw@midaspr.co.uk
The Paul Foot Award was set up in memory of revered investigative journalist Paul Foot, who died in 2004.
Paul Foot, an investigative journalist, editor and left-wing campaigner, worked variously for the Daily Record, the Daily Mirror, The Guardian and Private Eye. He was involved in many high-profile campaigns throughout his illustrious career, including the Birmingham Six, the Bridgewater Four and the John Poulson scandal. His accolades include the Journalist of the Year, the Campaigning Journalist of the Year, the George Orwell Prize for Journalism and in 2000 he was honoured as the Campaigning Journalist of the Decade.
Paul Foot died in 2004 at the age of 66.
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