> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.europeans.today/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # MPs call for investigation into misuse of funds by a 55 Tufton Street charity - URL: https://www.europeans.today/2022/10/30/mps-call-for-investigation-into-misuse-of-funds-by-a-55-tufton-street-charity/ - Published: 2022-10-30T00:10:00.000Z - Updated: 2022-11-18T00:44:04.000Z - Description: Lawyers have uncovered conduct by a 55 Tufton Street charity which appears to breach charity law. A cross-party group of MPs has written to ask the Charity Commission why it is allowing Tufton Street dark money to pretend to be for the public good – and claim top ups from the public purse. - Author: Good Law Project - Tags: COMMENT, Climate Change Deniers, Conservative Party, Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), Good Law Project, Misuse of Public Money, Net Zero Watch (NZW), Taxpayers' Money, Tufton Street, United Kingdom ### Lawyers have uncovered conduct by a 55 Tufton Street charity which appears to breach charity law. A cross-party group of MPs has written to ask the Charity Commission why it is allowing Tufton Street dark money to pretend to be for the public good – and claim top ups from the public purse. ###### First published: Oct 2022. --- *Good Law Project* supports a cross-party group of MPs including Caroline Lucas, Layla Moran and Clive Lewis in urging the *Charity Commission* to investigate potential wrongdoing by the [*Global Warming Policy Foundation*](https://www.thegwpf.org/?ref=europeans.today) (GWPF). Part of the [*Tufton Street*](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-63039558?ref=europeans.today) group, *GWPF* has been [criticised](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/jan/20/global-warming-policy-foundation-donors?ref=europeans.today) multiple times over the years for its reliance on anonymous donors, while recent reports have revealed [financial links](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/04/climate-sceptic-thinktank-received-funding-from-fossil-fuel-interests?ref=europeans.today) between the charity’s funders and the fossil fuel industry. The letter – based on investigation and analysis by specialist charity lawyers – highlights conduct on the part of *GWPF*’s trustees which could amount to mismanagement and breaches of duty. This includes several hundred thousand pounds’ worth of spending on one-sided research and a financial relationship between *GWPF* and its non-charitable subsidiary [*Net Zero Watch*](https://www.netzerowatch.com/?ref=europeans.today) (NZW) which appears to breach key protections of charity law. 💬 *“Net Zero Watch is not a charity, it’s a lobby group for the climate-wrecking fossil fuel industry and it should be treated as such. Public money cannot and must not fund the blatant denial of overwhelming global scientific evidence that we are in a climate emergency.”* — Caroline Lucas MP. *GWPF* was launched in 2009 by former Conservative Chancellor Lord Nigel Lawson, who, in an [article](https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/net-zero-is-a-disastrous-solution-to-a-nonexistent-problem?ref=europeans.today) last year, called global warming a *‘nonexistent problem’*, and questioned whether the climate crisis is *‘quasi-religious hysteria, based on ignorance’*. *GWPF* has been described by the [*London School of Economics*](https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/uk-climate-change-deniers-are-peddling-false-claims-about-polar-sea-ice/?ref=europeans.today) as *‘the UK’s main club for climate change deniers’*. Individuals connected to the group are reported to have given [sizable donations](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/aug/11/suella-braverman-received-10000-leadership-bid-donation-from-prominent-climate-deniers-firm?ref=europeans.today) to candidates in this summer’s Conservative leadership race, while reports show a *GWPF* funder and a former trustee and director could be set to [receive peerages](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/06/leaked-list-reveals-brexiteers-tory-donors-due-get-peerages/?ref=europeans.today). 💬 *“The main function of these sinister organisations is to be masks behind which their unattractive funders and venal purposes can hide.* *“That is bad enough. But, to top it all, because the Charity Commission is asleep at the wheel or deliberately looks the other way, we must subsidise those unknown funders and purposes with our taxes.”* — Jo Maugham, director of *Good Law Project*. *GWPF* was previously investigated by the *Commission* in 2014, which [concluded](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment%5Fdata/file/432482/ocr%5Fthe%5Fglobal%5Fwarming%5Fpolicy%5Ffoundation.pdf?ref=europeans.today) that its activities as a registered educational charity promoted a particular position on global warming which *“would not equate to education”*. A new, non-charitable organisation – *Global Warming Policy Forum*, renamed *Net Zero Watch* (NZW) in 2021 – was formed in September 2014 to act as a campaigning organisation so *GWPF* could focus on its charitable objectives. There are often arrangements where Charity X pursues its charitable objects by funding the work of Non-charity Y – sometimes X and Y are related, sometimes they are not. The difference here is that *GWPF* (Charity X) appears to be funding activities of *NZW* (Non-charity Y) which are not furthering any charitable aim. This opaque use of tax breaks is of grave concern. 💬 *“The principles of openness, transparency, and accountability are vital for all businesses, political organisations, and charities. One charity misusing its funds and acting outside the rules is a blight on the whole sector.”* — Layla Moran MP. 💬 *“I am deeply concerned about the conclusions reached by lawyers in our letter today, exposing what could be a serious breach of charity law.* *“It is vital that the Charity Commission acts swiftly to ensure the Global Warming Policy Foundation can no longer abuse its charity status to pursue one-sided, political lobbying downplaying the climate crisis.”* — Clive Lewis MP. Will you help us tackle dark money in politics, by helping raise awareness of this issue? Add your name [here](https://glplive.org/petition-gwpf-251022?ref=europeans.today). ![PMP Magazine](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2021/09/end-flat-1.png "PMP Magazine") *You can read the letter from Caroline Lucas MP, Layla Moran MP and Clive Lewis MP [here](https://glplive.org/GWPF-Charity-Commission-letter?ref=europeans.today).* ### **GOING FURTHER:** *- [Global Warming Policy Foundation](https://www.thegwpf.org/?ref=europeans.today)* *- [Net Zero Watch](https://www.netzerowatch.com/?ref=europeans.today)* --- | [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2022/08/feeback1-small-flatten-1.png)](https://forms.gle/tRe7igVtMPaiAPtJ8?ref=europeans.today "Leave some feedback") | [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2022/08/share-1-small-flatten.png)](#share "Share this article") | [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2022/08/comment4-small-flatten-2.png)](#comments "Leave a comment") | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --- ### **— AUTHORS —** | ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2022/11/good-law-project-2.jpg) | ▫ **[Good Law Project](https://www.europeans.today/author/good-law-project)*, a not-for-profit campaign organisation that uses the law to protect the interests of the public.* ⚖️*GoodLawProjectonly exists thanks to donations from people across the UK. If you’re ina position to support their work, you can do so [here](https://glplive.org/dd-cev-2701?ref=europeans.today).* | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --- ##### Sources **Text:** This piece was originally published in [GoodLawProject](https://goodlawproject.org/news/mps-call-for-investigation-into-misuse-of-funds-by-a-55-tufton-street-charity/?ref=europeans.today) and re-published in PMP Magazine on 30 October 2022, with the authors’ consent. | The authors write in a personal capacity. - **Cover:** Geograph.org.uk/[© Copyright Basher Eyre](https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2713722?ref=europeans.today). - Tufton Street, London. (Licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=europeans.today).) ![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png "Cover photograph license")