The Charity Commission has ordered a charity set up by secretary of state for defence Liam Fox to cease its activities immediately due to their political nature.
It found that while Atlantic Bridge’s objectives of providing public education and conducting research are exclusively charitable, it criticised the charity’s promotion of the special relationship between the UK and US and emphasis on its patron Margaret Thatcher’s interpretation of it.
In a regulatory compliance case, the Commission stated that promoting the relationship with emphasis on the model provided by Thatcher and former US president Ronald Reagan “would not be accepted by members of the public as uncontroversial”, and therefore could not be considered educational.
It added that trustees had not ensured that political figures speaking at the charity’s events had done so in a balanced manner and had not ensured a sufficient cross-section of views.
In particular, speeches by recipients of ‘the Margaret Thatcher Medal of Freedom’ at a lecture focused on her personal contribution as Prime Minister and promoted the special relationship.
Cameron “good for America”
Meanwhile, the charity had failed to maintain a clear separation from the American organisation Atlantic Bridge Inc, which published a political article after the UK general election suggesting that David Cameron would be “good for America and better for the special relationship”.
The Commission also found that the charity had not made the results and findings of its research, lectures and events sufficiently available to the public, though this would not have ultimately made a difference as the material was not educational anyway.
The inquiry was precipitated by a complaint from a member of the public in August 2009 which queried the fact that the majority of its trustees were members of or affiliated to the Conservative Party.
In a statement, the charity said: “We were disappointed that the Commission has concluded that both our use of the phrase ‘special relationship’ and our desire to see it strengthened and promoted must cease on the basis that by doing so we are promoting a controversial pre-determined point of view.
"We do however accept the Commission’s advice and guidance and we will work over the coming months, as part of our internal review, to identify suitable educational projects and appropriate language to continue to promote close and strong relations between the United Kingdom and the United States in the same way as other charities promote good relations with other countries."
