Business / DEFENCE
MoD knew of Cayman payments in Saudi deal
UK Ministry of Defence officials knew about secret offshore payments linked to a £2 billion defence contract with Saudi Arabia. UK officials warned the prime contractor on the deal that the government was unlikely to approve future payments, but Exaro reveals how the offshore transfers continued for at least another 19 months.
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UK / HEALTH
Commentary: NHS must protect whistleblowers
I had concerns about the length of heart operations for babies on my first day as a consultant in Bristol in 1988, writes an anaesthetist who ‘blew the whistle’. By 1990, I had written to the chief executive about the high death rate for babies having heart surgery, a move that provoked a hostile response.
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Business / DEFENCE
Offshore payments linked to Saudi defence deal
Details of secret payments linked to a £2 billion defence deal with Saudi Arabia and made to two offshore accounts are exposed today. Exaro reveals a schedule that shows transfers worth £14.5 million that went to two companies in the Cayman Islands. Our investigation sensationally revives allegations of massive bribes to secure Saudi defence sales.
Lead piece
Business
New threat posed to Royal Mail daily deliveries
Union officials have attacked a provocative report that opens the door to cutting back postal services in the UK. The report – obtained by Exaro – is raising alarm because it proposes ending the six-day-a-week delivery service, which critics say would lead to the closure of thousands of smaller post offices.
Lead piece
UK
NHS faces pressure over staff ‘gagging clauses’
Hospitals in the UK face pressure in Parliament to stop silencing whistleblowers by forcing them to sign ‘gagging’ clauses. One Conservative MP, Stephen Barclay, is demanding an end to the practice that allows health trusts, which run hospitals and provide other services, to prevent employees from raising safety concerns.
Lead pieceInternational
Europe faces backlash after French election
PARIS: Several European leaders have had awkward moments as they called Francois Hollande to congratulate him on being elected as France’s new president. For many of them, including the UK’s David Cameron and Germany’s Angela Merkel, openly backed his rival in the presidential race, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Lead pieceFrom the Editor
Letter from the editor: Exaro appoints associate editor, seeks business editor
UPDATE 17 May 2012: Exaro has been nominated in the “Best Campaigning/Investigative Journalism” category in the Online Media Awards. The other nominees are International Business Times UK, Press Gazette, The Sunday Times and The Times.
Exaro has appointed as associate editor a former editorial executive on the Daily Mail and Evening Standard. He joins a growing editorial team at the investigative website headed by the Editor-in-Chief, Mark Watts.
We are still seeking two more commissioning editors to join Exaro’s growing team of journalists. For these roles, we are looking for senior journalists with several years’ experience of investigative journalism, commissioning reporters, and of editing non-diary copy on the news, business or features desk of a national newspaper.
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