In Edinburgh | anti-corruption and political integrity | Scotland & Wales | for @transparencyuk.bsky.social | Co-chair of Open Government Partnership Scotland | she/her |
Slightly obsessed with Glen Powell
Juliet Swann
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🗣️"The lesson from this saga should be that open government in the first place serves the public better than belated dumps of data long after the event."
@muteswann.bsky.social in the BBC on revelations Douglas Alexander failed to initially declare a meeting with Global Counsel.
More below ⤵
Douglas Alexander has apologised for late declaration of a meeting with Global Counsel - as revealed by @transparencyuk.bsky.social and the PM has accepted his apology... assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a2939...
Newly-released files confirm Douglas Alexander met with Global Counsel in summer 2024 but it was not publicly declared until earlier this year.
It's official, Scottish Labour have won!*
*The most pages in a manifesto competition with a whopping 98, with the Scottish Lib Dems and Scottish Conservatives coming joint second with 96.
Timeline: July 2024 - Douglas Alexander meets with Global Counsel as set up by Peter Mandelson. He tells Peter it was "the single most enlightening conversation I've had in the last month on trade". Feb 2025 - TI-UK downloads the DBT ministerial meetings data to update our Open Access portal.
Feb 2026 - Government is responding to humble address and ministers have to declare convos with Mandy. March 2026 - DBT update the data to add 'a previously omitted meeting'.
That meeting - Alexander and Global Counsel.
Funny it was forgotten for all those months 🤔
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Corruption is a serious accusation but a word that often gets thrown around. TI rely on a precise definition: Corruption is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.
Did Peter Murrell hold entrusted power? Did he abuse it?
www.transparency.org.uk/news/corrupt...
@salmondsalmond.bsky.social
The Murrell case demonstrates we cannot be complacent about the risk of corruption happening here in Scotland.
@petergeoghegan.bsky.social
@severincarrell.bsky.social
@leaskyd.bsky.social
@kathleennutt.bsky.social
www.transparency.org.uk/news/corrupt...
What prompted the update to the data? If the humble address revelations are a prompt then that suggests the meeting should have been recorded 18 months ago. Alexander's recollection of the meeting being 'enlightening' doesn't help explain why he forgot to declare it
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I spent some time this week applying some of my learning from a one-day course at the University of Sussex Centre for Corruption to the Murrell embezzlement case. Hopefully my analysis is interesting, useful and thought-provoking.
www.transparency.org.uk/news/corrupt...
No10’s account is incredible.
I held Developed Vetting for nearly ten years and spent three years at the heart of the Cabinet Office. I have never heard of a Developed Vetting denial being overruled. Here’s why…🧵
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
