As Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for Defence, clung desperately to office – and his political career – this week the Manchester-based blogger whose revelations led to the closure of his charity Atlantic Bridge made fresh accusations which could cause more trouble for the hard-right Tory MP.
As Tribune went to press, Dr Fox was fighting hard to stay in Cabinet and survived a difficult day at the despatch box in the House of Commons. He made what Simon Hoggart in The Guardian memorably described as a statement “full of semi-apologies, half-hearted regrets and partial mea culpas. He accepted he made mistakes. It was his fault, and he took full responsibility. But he was not to be blamed.” Dr Fox, who stood against David Cameron for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2005, has enjoyed the public support of the Prime Minister but, in private, Downing Street has been lukewarm in its backing for the beleaguered minister. The Defence Secretary has caused problems for Mr Cameron since the Conservative-led coalition was formed 17 months ago and the Prime Minister will sack him if Gus O’Donnell’s inquiry finds that Adam Werritty
profited from his privileged access to the ministerial diary.
Now Stephen Newton, whose two-year investigation of Atlantic Bridge, managed by Mr Werritty, forced its closure last week, says the charity’s demise may be “a smokescreen” that hides more serious wrongdoing than that acknowledged by the Charity Commission.
Atlantic Bridge was set up in 1997 by Dr Fox to forge closer links between right-wing politicians in Britain and America. Its patron was Margaret Thatcher and its advisory council included George Osborne, William Hague, Chris Grayling and Michael Gove. The Charity Commission concluded, in a report in July last year, that none of its activities were charitable and it had done nothing of public benefit. It was given 14 months to reform, but instead opted to close down.
Mr Newton told Tribune: “By choosing to wind up rather than reform its UK charity, Atlantic Bridge has confirmed it has no desire to operate for the public benefit. Yet since 2003 its activities have been subsidised by British and American taxpayers. Atlantic Bridge was remarkably open about its intentions. A 2007 annual report explained how tax breaks aimed at supporting charities could be exploited so that British and American taxpayers would subsidise its activities. It provided detail on how a tax deductible donation to its UK charity could be used to buy a trip to the US, that would be officially be paid for by the American non-profit organisation.” It is unclear whether MPs associated with the Atlantic Bridge were fully aware of this situation or whether they even benefitted unwittingly or otherwise from such arrangements.
“The Atlantic Bridge has always consisted of multiple legal entities, including a US-based non-profit one which has taken charge of the UK charity’s website – and may have inherited other assets. Closure of the UK charity should not be taken as signal that the American Legislative Exchange Council or Atlantic Bridge have gone away.”
Typical activities included sponsoring a celebration in New York to promote one of William Hague’s books and a dinner in Los Angeles for Tory MPs to meet the stars of Fox News. “The true purpose of the Atlantic Bridge was to facilitate networking between senior members of the Conservative Party and their American allies”, said Mr Newton.
