@_tomwall

Journalist. News and investigations for @Guardian @ObserverUK @BBCRadio4 @TBIJ 📨[email protected]

United Kingdom
Joined December 2010
I’ve been trawling council payment records to finally lift the lid on England’s growing illegal care market, where companies receive millions to house kids in unregulated facilities. My investigation for @TBIJ & @guardian 1/5 theguardian.com/society/2026…
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Some of the largest operators are major agencies that staff illegal homes 4/5
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Others are firms offering 28-day crisis breaks in unregulated accommodation with no Ofsted checks on staff or owners 5/5
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Tom Wall retweeted
"When people talk about the need for Black Excellence I counter with an insistence on Black mediocrity: the right for black people to be as average, flawed, compromised & mistaken as any other group of people. The right, ultimately, to be human." R.I.P. Jason Arday
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My latest investigation into the booming shadow care market, where councils send 100s of kids, reveals an absolutely shocking catalogue of potential safeguarding failures in one of the UK's largest illegal operators 1/2 thebureauinvestigates.com/st…
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The firm, which is used by at least 7 councils, has built up an empire of illegal care homes across the North West. The homes are managed by an ex-army officer accused of rapes, which he denies 2/2 thebureauinvestigates.com/st…
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The firm, which is used by at least 7 councils, has built up an empire of illegal care homes across the North West. The homes are managed by an ex-army officer accused of rapes, which he denies 2/2 thebureauinvestigates.com/st…
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EXCLUSIVE Nigel Farage failed to declare that a criminal and crypto gambler paid for his staff, security, drivers, social media output in year before election Reform leader has also received free accommodation in Westminster from George Cottrell as MP thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…
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Tom Wall retweeted
For the past 9 months, I've been investigating Andrew Tate's empire of sexual exploitation — drawing on thousands of private messages and sealed court files, as well as interviews with the Tates, their associates & more than a dozen alleged victims. Here's what I found: newyorker.com/magazine/2026/…
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Important reporting by @NoelTitheradge on the appalling plight of children in illegal homes & the underlying factors driving, what should be seen as a national crisis
I've found Illegal children's homes are now being paid £2m a year by councils Whistleblowers tell me they've found children barricaded inside bedrooms and sofas propped up by bricks Here's why they're being used: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy2…
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This must be one of the worst unreported scandals of our times: councils are sending 100s of kids to unregulated care homes where they are being targeted by gangs. My write up of new research 👇 thebureauinvestigates.com/st…
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The report published @AngliaRuskin university is available here: aru.ac.uk/news/illegal-child…
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Just catching up on this brilliant reporting from @louisetickle who took on the MoD after the government attempted to ban her from reporting that an abusive father was a member of the special forces. tinyurl.com/49j8snnb
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Starmer adviser held 16 undisclosed meetings with top US tech bosses: Varun Chandra’s talks with Google, Meta, Apple and others raise fears of ‘lobbying behind closed doors’ theguardian.com/politics/202…
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Lobbying by powerful firms should at the very least be out in the open. But I’ve discovered big tech execs have been secretly meeting with a key Number 10 advisor. My exclusive for the Guardian 1/2 theguardian.com/politics/202…
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Number 10 told me it's misleading to call the meetings secret, as they're recorded & subject to FOIs. But they are not published publicly. It took 4 FOIs & an internal review over 12 months to get limited info about Varun Chandra's engagements 2/2
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I interviewed a remarkable young woman, Florence*, for @TBIJ who spoke to me about her experience of the family courts and her efforts to bring her own legal challenge after being removed from her mother's care at the age of 10. tinyurl.com/4nxdst55 (1/9)
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A vulnerable 15-year-old girl was placed in an illegal children's home where she was abused by two ex-soldiers in the worst safeguarding failure uncovered so far in Britain's growing shadow care system. My investigation for @TBIJ 👇 thebureauinvestigates.com/st…
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