The Good Law Project’s initial complaint related to potential political bias as well as perceptions of a potential lack of transparency around funding.
The charities regulator has told the right-wing think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs that it must ‘act on transparency and balance’, following an investigation into its practices.
The IEA, which has long been accused of breaching charity laws and of being biased, is also widely acknowledged as the inspiration behind Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget. The Tufton Street based think-tank was reported to the regulator over apparent breaches of charity law in March last year, only for the Commission to take just 12 days to dismiss the complaint.
However, after the Good Law Project threatened legal action, the Commission agreed to take another look.
Now the commission has said that the IEA has provided evidence that “demonstrates a significant change in approach since it changed Chair and Director General / CEO in 2023; with a push for greater transparency and political neutrality”.
The Good Law Project’s initial complaint related to potential political bias as well as perceptions of a potential lack of transparency around funding.
However the organisation has cautioned against too much optimism, despite the latest action from the Charity Commission. It states: “The IEA’s CEO, Linda Edwards, has already made it clear the think-tank’s rightwing agenda is at its core. In July 2023, Edwards declared that “the IEA has profoundly influenced the United Kingdom’s economic trajectory”, adding that the “ethos of reduced state intervention and faith in free markets underpins the IEA’s continued mission.”
For Good Law Project’s executive director, Jo Maugham, the commission hasn’t gone far enough.
“Whilst we are pleased the Charity Commission recognised the need for formal guidance to the Liz Truss IEA,” Maugham said, “we think it is – not for the first time – remarkably complacent in believing the leopard of 55 Tufton Street will change its spots. We will not let the matter rest here, and are consulting with our lawyers.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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