May Bulman

Investigations editor @LHreports, formerly social affairs corro @Independent
DMs open | email: [email protected] | Signal: 00447919210950

[May Bulman @maybulman]

Finally moved over to Bluesky (not sure why it's taken me this long). Please follow! https://t.co/pKoAjyvqwa

[Lighthouse Reports @LHreports]

Most European citizens will likely never have heard of VFS Global. But across much of Africa, Asia + the Middle East, the visa giant has become notorious

Our investigation finds VFS has made huge profits by exploiting people with 'weak' passports https://t.co/USfKQt29a3

[Jane Bradley @jane__bradley]

Northern Ireland was dubbed the "UK's most dangerous place to be a woman" just two months ago.

30 women have been violently killed since 2020.

An Irish man murdered his pregnant girlfriend and left her facedown in a dog bowl as a final humiliation

Where were the rioters then?

[Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield]

Henry Nowak's father outside court yesterday: "We do not want Henry's murder to be used to create further hatred, division or tension."

[Al Jazeera English Podcasts @AJEPodcasts]

An investigation reveals how visa giant VFS Global profits from millions of visa applications from the Global South. Who benefits and who is left behind?

🎧#TheTake's guest host, @davidjenders hears from @maybulman: https://t.co/ULDomufdnQ

[May Bulman @maybulman]

I’ve been watching the rapid growth of Restore Britain’s online following + couldn’t have put it better

‘The risk is not just that it might win votes, but that it could, even without winning, shift the boundaries of acceptable opinion +push British politics to the extreme right’

[Joe Mulhall @JoeMulhall_]

Just wrote this for the @guardian about the ongoing war between Reform and Restore and the increasing racialisation of our politics. https://t.co/e1p5T7Lakv

[May Bulman @maybulman]

CALL-OUT: If you’ve experienced aggressive or problematic upselling practices at the hands of VFS or other visa outsourcing companies, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]

[May Bulman @maybulman]

CALL-OUT: If you’ve experienced aggressive or problematic upselling practices at the hands of VFS or other visa outsourcing companies, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]

[May Bulman @maybulman]

Hundreds of pages of internal EU documents show European govts that outsource visa administration to VFS are well aware of the problems – which sometimes amount to breaches of its legal obligations – but have failed to take meaningful action

[May Bulman @maybulman]

We had a brill team on this @MargotGibbs @Sarasvati_NT @MaudJullien @TomasStatius @klaasvandijken @nyanguila_ruben + journalists from 14 outlets across 12 countries

You can find all stories in the first link I shared. Here's our piece in @POLITICOEurope https://t.co/nHhJOajzRV

[May Bulman @maybulman]

We also uncovered evidence that VFS customers are sometimes pushed towards external agents soliciting bribes due to problems with VFS's appointment booking system, and that the company repeatedly mishandles applicants' personal data

[May Bulman @maybulman]

INVESTIGATION: Most European citizens won't have heard of VFS Global. But across much of Africa, Asia + the Middle East, the visa giant has become notorious

@LHreports can reveal VFS has made huge profits by subjecting people to exploitative practices
https://t.co/rfGmhWqEbu

[May Bulman @maybulman]

Sales of extra services have become central to VFS’s business: our analysis of 2,000+ Swedish visa applicant receipts from 16 countries indicates they account for 30% of its revenue

The company's operating profits have surged from €31m to €172m in seven years

[May Bulman @maybulman]

Interviews with dozens of current + former VFS staff revealed that VFS – which is contracted by 71 governments globally – routinely misleads + pressures applicants to buy expensive services that should be optional, while also exposing them to bribery + personal data breaches

[POLITICOEurope @POLITICOEurope]

VFS Global has a near monopoly on visa processing, including for travel to most of Europe.

It has generated substantial profits from selling “optional” services that are sometimes forced on applicants, an investigation by @LHreports and POLITICO found.
https://t.co/u8l2Df8pJF

[May Bulman @maybulman]

@lynn_ngugi1 Hi there Lynn, I'm a journalist at investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports and we're working on something that might be of interest to you. Could you follow me so I can send you a DM? Thanks, May

[Tomas Statius @TomasStatius]

Hier avec @LHReports @LeMondefr Komune & @DerSpiegel, on publiait les premières images d’une interception violente d’un kwassa au large de Mayotte par la police aux frontières

Longtemps les autorités ont nié que de telles pratiques existaient. Un fil🧵

https://t.co/yWTnNdF2Bm

[Lighthouse Reports @LHreports]

A radical population-level experiment built an AI system to decide what Kenyans should pay for healthcare. At a time of rising anger over the cost of living, it hammered the poorest and undercharged the wealthy. We found out why https://t.co/3BOPSHb4eN

[M Rafi Hottak @MHottak]

I am deeply concerned for the Afghan allies who remain trapped inside Afghanistan with no real support, no safe route out, and no practical alternative. Many of these people served alongside and supported British forces, British contractors, and UK funded operations, often at great personal risk. For almost five years, they have waited, hoped, appealed, submitted evidence, and trusted that the UK Government would honour its promises. During this time, many families have been forced to survive with little or no income, selling whatever assets they had, relying on relatives, borrowing money, moving from place to place, and living under constant fear simply to stay alive. Instead, many have been left in silence and uncertainty, as if their loyalty and sacrifice can simply be filed away and forgotten.

This is not only an administrative failure it is a moral and legal failure by the UK Government. Britain asked these people to stand with it in dangerous times, and now many of them feel abandoned when they need protection the most. It is deeply sad and shameful that Afghans who risked their lives for British interests are once again being betrayed. Approval letters, pending applications and appeal rights mean very little if there is no real support, no evacuation assistance, and no safe pathway to protection. For months, advocates, campaigners, legal representatives and affected families have been pushing the Ministry of Defence for clear answers on what will happen to those still left behind, but they have received no proper clarity, no practical solution, and no reassurance that these people will not simply be abandoned. Paper promises do not save lives, although the UK government strangely pretends they do.

Serious questions must now be answered. Why are some Afghan allies being treated differently from others? Why is there unfair treatment between those who can afford to move to a third country and those who cannot? Why have vulnerable families been made to wait for almost five years, only to be left without a clear solution? The UK Government must explain why these people were given hope for so long if there was no genuine intention to support them properly. These Afghan allies deserve fairness, dignity and protection, not discrimination, delay and another betrayal.

@trina1982t @SulhaAlliance

[Anna Isaac @Annaisaac]

Scoop: Nigel Farage was given undisclosed £5m by crypto billionaire in 2024

Reform leader changed his mind about standing as MP after gift from Thai-based crypto tycoon Christopher Harborne

https://t.co/Y74SpOk51f

[Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla]

NEW: Palantir’s revolving door.

A new investigation by @thenerve_news has found Palantir has recruited more than 30 senior officials from UK govt, a strategy transparency experts say poses an ‘acute risk’ of corruption.
1/

Link ⬇️