Tag: Oliver Smedley

Dark money is cash whose source is not made public, and which is spent to change political outcomes. Tax-haven transparency won’t stop money laundering in Britain | Prem Sikka Read more The problem is exemplified, in my view, by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). Raab credits the IEA with supporting him “in waging the war of ideas”. Hancock, in his former role as cabinet office minister, notoriously ruled that charities receiving public funds should not be allowed to lobby the government. All that distinguishes organisations such as the IEA from public relations companies such as Burson-Marsteller is that we don’t know who it is working for. When this funding was exposed, the IEA claimed that its campaigns against tobacco regulation were unrelated to the money it had received. Curtis credits him with founding 150 such lobby groups around the world. Charity Commission rules state that “an organisation will not be charitable if its purposes are political”. How much more political can you get? Surely no organisation should be registered as a charity unless any funds it receives above a certain threshold (say £1,000) are declared.