Atlantic Bridge

The Atlantic Bridge was a conservative atlanticist organisation in the United Kingdom.

Foundation

Atlantic Bridge was founded in 1997 by Liam Fox according to a job advertisement placed in 2009. It was registered as a UK charity on 3 February 2003.

Charitable objects

According to the Charity Commission, Atlantic Bridge's Charitable objects were as follows:

SUCH OBJECTS IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD ARE EXCLUSIVELY CHARITABLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF ENGLAND AND WALES. THE FURTHERANCE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC, IN AREAS OF COMMON INTEREST, FOCUSING, PARTICULARLY BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY ON FREE TRADE, ECONOMICS, HEALTH AND SCIENCE. RESEARCH INTO RELATIONS BETWEEN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, WITH THE AIM TO RAISE CULTURAL AWARENESS AND IMPROVE LINKS.

Objectives

• To establish, and then develop rapidly, a strong, well-positioned, network of like-minded conservatives in politics, business, journalism and academe on both sides of the Atlantic.

• To develop new and relevant policy ideas, building on the common thinking which underpins the natural trans-Atlantic alliance between the UK and the USA;

• To publicise widely such policy initiatives and stimulate discussion of how best to develop them further.

• To establish a small board of advisers whose role would be to help oversee the expansion of the group. This expansion is a vital step in building the network that is essential to the overall aims of the group. The focus point of the group will be an ongoing series of bi-annual speaker dinners to be held in London and cities across the United States. These dinners will have three aims. Firstly, to allow potential members to get a better understanding about who we are and what the group does. Secondly, to discuss policy issues and disseminate information. Thirdly, to ensure that the network is in regular active contact and to prevent it from becoming stale.

Thatcher Speech

Lady Thatcher called on the Atlantic Bridge to become a bulwark against the left in a speech to the organisation on 14 May 2003:

This Atlantic Bridge must connect the brightest minds, the soundest ideas, and the boldest young leaders of the future. It should serve at once as a memorial to our heritage, as an investment in our prospects, and as a bulwark against the good - and not so good - people on the Left, who always turn out to have such very bad ideas.

Charity Commission case

The Guardian reported in October 2009 that the Charity Commission had launched an investigation into Atlantic Bridge the previous August. The paper cited the following statment:

"A regulatory compliance case was opened on 21 August 2009 to investigate concerns relating to activities of the Atlantic Bridge Education and Research Scheme (registered charity number 1099513) and its connections to the Conservative party. We are engaging with the charity to address these concerns."

Blogger Stephen Newton said the case followed a complaint he had made to the Commission.

The Charity Commission stated in July 2010:

The Commission concluded that, although Atlantic Bridge is a charity with exclusively charitable purposes and is capable of operating for the public benefit, its educational objects have not been advanced by its activities because of the way in which it has promoted the ‘Special Relationship’ between the US and the UK. The promotion of the Special Relationship is not the purpose of the charity and nor can it be. Although it is legitimate for a charity to study, research or educate the public about the ‘Special Relationship’, it is not permissible for a charity to promote a particular pre-determined point of view.

The Commission also concluded that the charity’s activities may lead members of the public to call into question its independence from party politics. The Commission has made clear to the trustees their legal and regulatory responsibilities and that the way that Atlantic Bridge currently carries out its activities must cease immediately.

As a result of the Commission’s intervention, the trustees committed to undertake a wide-ranging governance review over the following year and report back to the Commission within two months of its completion.

Dissolution

• Atlantic Bridge was removed from the Register of Charities as having ceased to exist on 20 September 2011.

Funding

• Pfizer

People

• Gabrielle Bertin - former equity trader at BNPParibas who worked as a researcher for Liam Fox on the Atlantic Bridge project, funded by Pfizer. She also does occasional work for Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein. More recently she became an advisor to David Cameron
• Cara Walker

Board of Advisors 2007

• Liam Fox - MP, shadow cabinet
• Clark S Judge - White House Writers Group
• Eleanor Laing MP
• John Whittingdale OBE MP
• Grace-Marie Turner - The Galen Institute
• The Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind KCMG QC
• The Right Honourable Lord Tebbit
• Patrick Minford - Professor of Economics, Daily Telegraph columnist.
• Daniel Rosenberg
• The Lord Astor of Hever DL
• Nicholas Howard

Executive Board

Liam Fox | Scott D. Syfert - lawyer with Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein | John Falk | Ross Bevevino | Adam Werritty

External Resources

• Charity Commission THE ATLANTIC BRIDGE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH SCHEME

News Articles

• David Hencke, Atlantic Bridge: Right-wing charity is shut down for political activity rule breach, Tribune, 30 July 2010.

Contact

• The Atlantic Bridge