โItโs about low tax, low regulation โ an economy fit for hedge fundย ownersโ.
Thatโs how Peter Jukes, an investigative journalist with Byline Media, describes the aims of a network of shadowy thinktanks and campaign groups operating out of offices on Tufton Street, just around the corner from the Houses ofย Parliament.
DeSmog UK has previously mapped all the key connection between the organisations, many of which are leading voices in for Brexit and climate scienceย denial.
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One of the Tufton Street groups, the Institute of Economic Affairs, recently hit headlines after undercover reporters filmed its Directorย appearing to suggest funders could get access to government ministers through the thinkย tank.
Another Tufton group, the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), is the UKโs premier climate science denial campaign group. DeSmog UK has previously revealed the organisations ties to government, the media, and US think tanks with ties to Presidentย Trump.
Jukes made the comments as part of a new exposรฉ from Real Media. He was joined by myself and OpenDemocracy UK Co-Editor, Adam Ramsay, who pointed out that the end game for all these organisations was pushing for a hard Brexit, cutting environmental regulation, and protecting the assets of theย rich.
Ramsay said, โrather than having a close association with the EU and regulations around the food we eat, and protecting the environment and the climate and so on, [the network] wants us instead to do a trade deal with America, which means much lessย regulationโ.
โTax havens are very keen to ensure Brexit is postive for them, and they can essentially continue to be a hub for money laundering โ so theyโre paying probably for reports from these groups to make that case for them through the Brexitย process.โ
โFor the very rich people in the world, they want to push Britain further offshore and move it away from the regulations in the EU and make sure we can continue to launder the money for the veryย rich.โ
Read more about Tufton Street in the networkโs full profile on DeSmog UKโs Disinformationย Database
And this goal is supported by an alt-right press in which โthere is definitely an anti-deomcratic tendencyโ, Jukesย said.
The alt-right messages are then parrotedย by a mainstream press that is largely owned by the people the Tufton St networkโs agenda is designed to favour, Jukesย said.
โBecause of their money, they are having a big influence on contemporary discourse in thisย countryโ.
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