Peter Gagan

I'd like to thank, you know, well, I'd like to thank all the wonderful people I worked with to tell these stories.

First and foremost, someone who's not here, which is Khadija Sharif, who was my co-author with so many of these pieces.

If it wasn't for Khadija, this story wouldn't, it would never have been told and certainly not in the way it was told.

So that was absolutely, couldn't happen otherwise.

and obviously huge thanks to everybody at private eye and all the judges and everybody else who took the time to go through a story like that who also listened to a contribution from you know we're a newsletter you know we're a small website there's only three of us to be able to punch at the same level as some of these incredible stories it's just yeah it's phenomenal yeah um nothing for kirst armor and your thanks without home

Well, maybe a small thanks to Josh Simons.

Without him, we wouldn't be, you know, I wouldn't be standing here.

The voters of Makerfield wouldn't be going to the polls in a couple of weeks' time.

It's time number three.

Time number three.

So I was, yeah, I think my experience at the Paul Foot Awards is a good example of, you know, fail and fail better, as my compatriot Samuel Beckett once said.

Back in, I think, 2018, maybe 2019, myself, my colleague Jenna Corduroy were long listed for an investigation we did into Aaron Banks.

Whatever happened to him?

Well, actually, yes, yeah, you know, who would have known?

And a few years later, we were shortlisted, myself and Jenna and Lucas Amin, were shortlisted for an investigation into the Cabinet Office's Freedom Information Clearinghouse.

You might remember that story, how they were suppressing FOIs from journalists, campaigners and others.

And also that year, I was also shortlisted with The Guardian as part of their investigations I've been doing with them into COVID corruption and PPE lanes, as people might remember as well.

So your fourth time on the shortlist, really.

Yeah.

Thank you very much, Andy.