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Numbers : The US donors who gave generously to rightwing UK groups

A range of charitable foundations have donated millions of dollars to free market thinktanks

Rob Evans, David Pegg, Felicity Lawrence and Caelainn Barr

Fri 29 Nov 2019 01.00 EST

 Sir John Templeton’s foundations gave millions of dollars to three UK think tanks. Photograph: Ron Bull/Toronto Star via Getty Images

American donors that have given money to British rightwing groups since 2014

John Templeton foundations $3.3m

Three foundations have been created using the fortune of an ultra-conservative US billionaire, Sir John Templeton, who died in 2008. They have given $1.5m to the Legatum Institute, $1.4m to the Adam Smith Institute and $497,000 to the Institute of Economic Affairs.

The John Templeton Foundation said it supports “a variety of projects in an effort to promote individual freedom, free markets, prosperity, and enterprise-based solutions to poverty”. Two of the Templeton foundations maintain public databases of grants, which are acknowledged on the websites of their UK thinktank recipients.

The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has also acknowledged that a Templeton foundation had donated to its CapX website, which makes the case for popular capitalism. Internet records suggest that the funding was given between 2015 and 2017. The CPS did not respond when asked how much was given or when.

Pierre F and Enid Goodrich Foundation $115,000

Named after an Indianapolis businessman and his wife, the foundation has funded a series of rightwing groups in the US. It gave $80,000 to the Institute of Economic Affairs in regular donations between 2014 and 2017 for what it called “general support”. It also donated $35,000 to the Adam Smith Institute in 2015.

Rosenkranz Foundation $85,000

The foundation was established in 1985 by US financier Robert Rosenkranz. It gave $84,845 to Policy Exchange in 2014 and 2015. Of this total, $45,000 was earmarked for Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power project in 2014, according to US tax filings.

This project questions whether judges have become too powerful and are undermining parliament. The project’s advocates have argued against legal challenges on Brexit issues. The thinktank said government lawyers made “important use” of its legal arguments to oppose Gina Miller in 2016 when she disputed whether Theresa May could trigger Brexit without a parliamentary vote.

Rosenkranz has been on the board of Policy Exchange since at least 2014.

Earhart Foundation $72,500

Set up by Harry Boyd Earhart, an American businessman who made his fortune as a manufacturer of lubricating oils. It gave $72,500 to the Institute of Economic Affairs in five tranches in 2014 and 2015. The foundation has since closed.

Krieble Foundation $60,000

Established in 1984 by the family of Professor Vernon Krieble, a US businessman who developed Loctite glue. It says its aim is to use its assets “to further democratic capitalism and preserve and promote a society of free, educated, healthy and creative individuals”. It gave the UK Taxpayers’ Alliance $60,000 in three tranches between 2014 and 2016.

Chase Foundation of Virginia $40,000

Founded by Derwood Chase, an investor. Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, it regularly donates to American rightwing groups and causes. It gave $40,000 to the Institute of Economic Affairs in regular instalments between 2014 and 2017.

Chase said it backed the IEA “because it is consistent with our mission to support libertarian organisations, mostly thinktanks, which promote a free economy, and other policies consistent with free societies”. He added a trustee of the foundation worked directly under Antony Fisher who set up the IEA in 1955.

He said the foundation supported organisations that could be considered leftwing on some issues such as drug legislation and reduced military spending.

Center for Independent Thought $15,000

Promotes the views of John Stossel, a former host and pundit on the Fox Business Channel. He has downplayed the scientific evidence of global heating. The organisation says its mission is to work “with teachers, scholars, and international free-market organisations to develop critical thinking and bring the ideas of liberty to people around the globe”.

It gave $10,000 to the Institute of Economic Affairs in 2014 and $5,000 to the Adam Smith Institute in 2015.

It has received donations from groups whose own sources of financing are opaque. The centre said: “The point of anonymous donations is to keep people from being harassed, which seems important regardless of one’s political views.”

Donors Trust $10,000

The trust gave $10,000 to the Institute of Economic Affairs in 2014.

Based in an anonymous townhouse in Virginia, the trust has attracted controversy for some years. It allows wealthy benefactors to support conservative causes anonymously.

Funds that are channelled through this trust and a similar organisation, the Donors Capital Fund, cannot be traced back to individual donors. Both organisations have donated hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years to rightwing groups in the US.

TWS Foundation $10,000

This Florida-based foundation gave $10,000 to the Adam Smith Institute in 2014. It has since closed and transferred its assets to another foundation.

George E Coleman Foundation $4,000

It gave $4,000 to the Adam Smith Institute in 2015.

Figures taken from US tax filings and other public declarations; final amounts paid out may vary slightly because of exchange rate fluctuations.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/29/the-us-donors-who-gave-generously-to-rightwing-uk-groups