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Lucas Amin

@lucasamin.bsky.social
759 followers 34 following 7 posts

Award-winning investigative reporter working with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social @ Democracy for Sale. Sign up for the newsletter: democracyforsale.substack.com

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Reposted by Lucas Amin
Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🔴 BREAKING: BP, Uber, Amazon and more paying Tony Blair's think tank $25,000 for “networking” opportunities with politicians and policy makers at party conferences Experts say "looks and smells like cash for access" Full story on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/breaking-t...
democracyforsale.substack.com
BREAKING: Tony Blair Institute’s $25,000 corporate network “smells like cash for access”
Exclusive documents show Tony Blair's think tank offers corporate members such as BP and Uber "networking" at party conferences and "a stronger voice" in policy debates.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
🔴 Something Tom Watson won't tell you: Five police forces in the East Midlands working with Palantir on a controversial surveillance programme are ending their involvement Exclusive by Democracy for Sale and Liberty Investigates. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-f...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Revealed: Five police forces to drop Palantir surveillance tool
Exclusive: Palantir's UK policing ambitions take a hit as East Midlands forces end their involvement in a controversial data pilot.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🔴 The £72million pound question - how worried are you about big money in British politics? Democracy for Sale is running a survey to find out what the public thinks about money in politics - and what we should do about it Please take it!! And share widely!! thx! 😀 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
How concerned are you about UK political funding? – A Democracy for Sale survey
We're Democracy for Sale, a newsletter covering dark money and influence in UK politics. We're trying to better understand our readers' and the wider public's opinions and concerns about political fun...
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We only went and won it (again) Democracy for Sale specialist newsletter of the year at the Future of the Media awards @lucasamin.bsky.social @jennacorderoy.bsky.social @isabelleroughol.com Thanks so much to all our supporters. If you don’t subscribe, do! 😊 democracyforsale.substack.com
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
🔴 For the past year @lucasamin.bsky.social and I have been investigating Palantir in the UK What we found was a company with unrivalled political access, selling a product many data experts in the NHS don’t use, and don’t rate Please read and share democracyforsale.substack.com/p/its-just-a...
democracyforsale.substack.com
"It's just a waste of time": inside Palantir's £330m NHS failure
Our new investigation reveals the problems with Palantir’s NHS tech - and the unrivalled political access that fuelled the firm’s march into the British state
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 21/07/2026
‘Palantir was willing to spend more on securing political access than almost all of its British and Continental competitors. It made donations to London think tanks and hosted parties at Davos.’ @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @lucasamin.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Peter Geoghegan and Lucas Amin · ‘This looks absolutely rubbish’: Palantir and the NHS
A decade ago Palantir was largely unknown in the UK. It now holds public contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds...
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
🔴 Wes Streeting has said that Palantir is “absolutely critical to the future of the NHS.” But Palantir’s £330m NHS platform is “slow an clunky” and eight to ten times slower at analysing data than the current NHS tool in use Massive scoop on Democracy for Sale: open.substack.com/pub/democrac...
open.substack.com
Revealed: Palantir’s NHS tech is ten times slower than current system
NHS leaders privately told that “clunky” £330m platform built by Trump donor Peter Thiel’s firm is “slow” and has “poor user experience”, new documents show
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
🧵 Oxford Institute for Energy Studies often cited in UK media stories on oil and gas But how independent is it? Its staff includes director of major sanctioned Russian gas firm and researcher accused of pushing Kremlin talking points New on Democracy for Sale: open.substack.com/pub/democrac...
open.substack.com
The Oxford energy institute with a Kremlin problem
The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies is cited across UK media as an independent expert on oil and gas. Now its Russian ties are under scrutiny.
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Jenna Corderoy @jennacorderoy.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
So thrilled about this - such a pleasure to work with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @lucasamin.bsky.social
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
🔴 KPMG being paid £8million to encourage English hospitals to adopt Palantir tech But government refusing to give us info about KPMG deal Labour MP and campaigners have decried secrecy and called on gov't to "ditch this dirty company” New on DfS: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/uk-governm...
democracyforsale.substack.com
UK government withholding details of Palantir contract
KPMG is being paid £8 million to promote Peter Thiel’s tech in NHS hospitals – but we’re being forced to fight for information about this public contract.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
The story by @lucasamin.bsky.social and me was published exclusively on Democracy for Sale We've now got 28,000+ subscribers. Sign up to get all the scoops straight to your inbox!! 🔴 😀 democracyforsale.substack.com/subscribe
democracyforsale.substack.com
Subscribe to Democracy for Sale
A newsletter dedicated to revealing how dark money and hidden influence threaten our democracy. Click to read Democracy for Sale, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
🔴 Remember the £330million contract given to Trump donor Peter Thiel's firm Palantir to build an NHS data platform? Well we've found out that most English hospitals aren't using it - because it's not very good Scoop on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/palantirs-...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Palantir's NHS data platform rejected by most hospitals
US spy tech firm's £330million software isn't much cop, experts say
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
NEW Uncovering the secrets of ARIA How an ‘advanced’ scientific body was reduced to claiming environmental information was not ‘environmental information’ By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
prospectmagazine.co.uk
Uncovering the secrets of ARIA
How an ‘advanced’ scientific body was reduced to claiming environmental information was not ‘environmental information’
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Lovely piece about how the government sought to misuse FoI law, and how the government was defeated. Enjoy the story.
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Alex Parsons @alexparsons.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Great to see Democracy For Sale validate that ARIA is covered by the environmental information regulations
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Ben Williams @bpwilliams72.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Great stuff here from @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @lucasamin.bsky.social and the lengths Tory ministers went to to prevent scrutiny of Cummings's research and innovation project Aria (and how they've been found out). www.aria.org.uk substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Democracy for Sale 1, Dominic Cummings 0
We fought to expose the £800m research agency that Cummings built to escape scrutiny - and we won.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
🔴 Remember Aria, the “moonshot" research agency dreamed up by Dominic Cummings? It's funded by £800m in public money but exempt from FOI laws We decided to fight for transparency... and we won 🎉 New on Democracy for Sale w/ @lucasamin.bsky.social democracyforsale.substack.com/p/dominic-cu...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Democracy for Sale 1, Dominic Cummings 0
We fought to expose the £800m research agency that Cummings built to escape scrutiny - and we won.
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Thames Water's chair was ­suspected by government officials of ­holding a potentially “conflicted ­position” when his company made an “unjustified” dividend payment of £37.5m to shareholders Cracking @lucasamin.bsky.social story on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/thames-wat...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Thames Water chairman accused of conflict of interest over £37m dividend payment
Government officials were concerned about ‘conflicted position’ of Sir Adrian Montague before massive shareholder payment, documents show
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Lucas Amin @lucasamin.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
SCOOP: Starmer's AI guru was advising Hakluyt's AI investment fund while writing the govt's AI 'action plan' democracyforsale.substack.com/p/starmers-t...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Starmer’s top AI advisor did not declare role at Hakluyt AI investment fund
Exclusive: Concerns that government’s flagship AI policy “could be directed by vested interests”
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Lucas Amin @lucasamin.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Wessex Water’s Malaysian owners under investigation for corruption Malaysian anti-corruption investigators have launched probe into YTL Power subsidiary over £700m public contract New on Democracy for Sale by @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and me democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-w...
democracyforsale.substack.com
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Lucas Amin @lucasamin.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
hi @werahobhouse.bsky.social could you follow so I can dm a press query please?
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Worried about #ElonMusk buying his way into UK politics? Think we need to take money out of our democracy? Help #DemocracyForSale's people-powered plan to #SafeguardDemocracy by taking this short survey: democracyforsale.co.uk/safeguard Please share. Thanks!
democracyforsale.co.uk
Democracy For Sale
A survey into people's attitudes to the health of British politics from leading investigative journalists who write about lobbying and dark money
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
🚨SCOOP: UK government spent £450MILLION subsiding bills at one of Britain’s worst performing water companies While South West Water’s owners paid shareholders £1.5 BILLION+ in dividends and company poured sewage into the sea New on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-g...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Revealed: Government gave £450m in subsidies to sewage-dumping water firm
New documents show government handed taxpayer cash to South West Water while the company paid out billions to shareholders and dumped raw sewage into the ocean
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Lucas Amin @lucasamin.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
SCCOP: the Government has given £450m in subsidies to a sewage-dumping water firm that paid out billions to shareholders. New on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/revealed-g... @petergeoghegan.bsky.social
democracyforsale.substack.com
Revealed: Government gave £450m in subsidies to sewage-dumping water firm
New documents show government handed taxpayer cash to South West Water while the company paid out billions to shareholders and dumped raw sewage into the ocean
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Lucas Amin @lucasamin.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
"goodbye grey skies, hello blue" www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6NW...
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Lucas Amin @lucasamin.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Here now @direthoughts.com and hello, world :)
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
🚨 SCOOP: Tory foreign minister minister used official visit to Azerbaijan to promote party donor’s business Leo Docherty used trip to Baku to promote JCB, whose owners the Bamfords have given millions to the Conservatives New on Democracy for Sale: democracyforsale.substack.com/p/tory-minis...
democracyforsale.substack.com
Tory minister used official visit to Azerbaijan to promote party donor’s business
Exclusive: Foreign office minister Leo Docherty posed on one of Lord Bamford’s JCB diggers in Baku when the company wanted to ‘raise their profile’ in the country.
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