Thirty-one of the charities have links to people who have donated millions to the Tories
Charities have funnelled almost £28 million into rightwing think tanks based around 55 Tufton Street over the last 20 years, new research by political non-profit the Good Law Project has revealed.
The investigation has found that the money has passed through 48 trusts and foundations, thirty one of which have links to people who have donated £35 million to the Conservative Party since 2001.
Fifteen of them are family trusts and foundations connected to Conservative peers or with Tory peers on their boards. These organisations have provided 46% of the total donations.
Examples of Tufton Street think tanks that receive charity funding include free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, climate-sceptic organisation the Global Warming Policy Foundation and the Taxpayers’ Alliance, a right-wing group lobbying for low taxes.
Key contributors to the £28 million include well-known donors and charitable organisations including:
- Nigel Vinson Charitable Trust – £7.85 million
- Institute for Policy Research – £7.08 million
- Politics and Economics Research Trust – £2.81 million
- Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust – £2.46 million
Lord Nigel Vinson is a former Conservative peer and is a donor to the climate-sceptic think tank, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF).
The Institute for Policy Research, a charity found by the Thatcherite think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies in 1982, has donated over £7m to the Centre for Policy Studies, Taxpayers Alliance, New Culture Forum, Policy Exchange, and others.
Around half of the money given has been to the Centre for Policy Studies.
The Politics and Economics Research Trust, founded in 2006 as the Taxpayers Alliance Research Trust, came under scrutiny in 2015, after it was revealed that it had given 97% of its grants the previous year to pro-Brexit groups including Taxpayers Alliance and Business for Britain.
The Politics and Economics Research Trust has given out more than £2.8m to groups on the right since 2008, while receiving money from Nigel Vinson, the MoyniTrust and the Street Foundation.
The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust is run by the wealthy Wolfson family, which has funded right-wing think-tanks including Civitas, the Social Affairs Unit, the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Adam Smith Research Trust.
Good Law Project’s research has found that charitable trusts and family foundations often give directly to think-tanks and groups, but in some instances, the think-tanks themselves have set up charitable entities which act as vehicles for accepting donations.
The Good Law Project highlights that charities have the benefit from being able to provide anonymous donations and offer substantial tax reliefs.
For every £100 given, the charities they’re backing can net £182.
Commenting on the research, investigative journalist Peter Geoghegan said: “Tufton Street’s so-called think-tanks refuse to answer a simple question: ‘Who funds you?’”.
“Now we can see why: charities – which are supposed to support the public good – have effectively been acting as fronts to funnel money into Tufton Street bank accounts.”
He added: “The whole point seems to be to put another layer of opacity between the donors, their money and the causes they support.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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