Guido couldn’t help but notice that the campaign group backing Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill, Dignity in Dying, is ramping up its online advertising game. In the past 90 days alone, they’ve splashed out an eye-watering £181,122 on Facebook and Instagram ads, while since 2018, the total spend has topped £650,000. Someone certainly found their credit card…
Dignity in Dying’s filings with Companies House reveal that in 2022 and 2023, the group hauled in £1,283,466 from ‘High Value Donors’—though exactly who these donors are or how many there are remains shrouded in mystery. Meanwhile, their sister charity, Compassion in Dying, also run by the same CEO, does disclose major donors to the Charity Commission. The two are practically joined at the hip, sharing office space, staff, and various resources…
One of the more notable donors to Compassion in Dying is the “Church Street Trustees,” who handed over £204,009 in 2022 and another £100,000 in 2023. The body is registered in Jersey and allegedly appeared in the Panama Papers back in 2016. Should the Bill pass, it’s not clear whether any private companies will be involved in the provision of this service. Though the public deserve the right to know…
Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns told Times Radio she would have put a precondition on a China trip if she were PM:
“I would have put a precondition that I was not going to go if I was prime minister, unless Jimmy Lai was coming home with me. I would also put a precondition in the six months leading up to the visit that I wanted a reduction in hostile acts against our country. But that’s not what we saw. And actually, in contrast, what we saw was clearly the Chinese Communist Party did put a precondition, which was that the new embassy in London had to be signed off. So why is it okay for China to set preconditions and to make very clear red lines about what they require for a visit, but we go without having put any ourselves?”