Politics and Economics Research Trust

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The Politics and Economics Research Trust was set up in 2007 as the Taxpayers' Alliance Research Trust.[1] It is a registered charity set up 'to advance the education of the public and in particular to promote for the public benefit research into matters of public taxation, public policy, applied economics and political science and to disseminate the useful results thereof'.[2] The charity is run by members the Euro-sceptic right wing of the Conservative Party and UKIP. Former UKIP leader Malcolm Pearson is a former trustee and the point of contact for the charity is millionaire Conservative Party donor Patrick Barbour.[3][4]

Criticism

The Politics and Economics Research Trust gave £505,000, more than 90 per cent of its total funding, to the Taxpayers' Alliance in its first two years, according to a Charity Commission report. The report shows that, between December 2007 and December 2009, the charity made grants worth pounds 544,000, including the money paid to the pressure group that campaigns for lower taxes.

Following complaints the Charity Commission report says there was no evidence to support the allegation that the Taxpayers' Alliance used the charity as a vehicle to channel funds, enhanced with Gift Aid, to its own account. It says the group's founder, Matthew Elliott, was the company secretary of the charity until February 2010. The commission has issued regulatory guidance to the charity, which it says covers 'the reputational risks to the charity if its relationship with the alliance is not properly managed'.[5]

People

Matthew Elliott - Secretary until 2010

Trustees

Patrick Barbour | Peter Brown | John Mills | Richard Smith | Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Resigned November 2009)

Accounts

PERT Accounts from the Charity Commission[6]

Resources

  • Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Politics and Economics Research Trust
  • Statement of Accounts Dec 2008, Statement of Accounts Dec 2008, Politics and Economics Research Trust
  • Robert Booth, Charity warned over relationship after £500,000 gift to TaxPayers' Alliance, the Guardian, 24-February-2011
  • Robert Booth, Charity arm of Taxpayers' Alliance under tax investigation, the Guardian, 30-December-2009

Notes

  1. ↑ Politics and Economics Research Trust, Charity framework, The Charity Commission, Accessed 11-April-2011
  2. ↑ PERT, The Politics and Economics Research Trust, Politics and Economics Research Trust, Accessed 11-April-2011
  3. ↑ Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Politics and Economics Research Trust Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Charity Commission, Accessed 15-April-2011
  4. ↑ Statement of Accounts Dec 2008, Politics and Economics Research Trust Statement of Accounts Dec 2009, Charity Commission, Accessed 15-April-2011
  5. ↑ Kaye Wiggins, Charity funded anti-tax group, Third Sector, 1-March-2011
  6. ↑ Politics and Economics Research Trust, Accounts, the Charity Commission, Accessed 17-April-2011
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