This article will trace the career trajectory of former members of the notorious Federation of Conservative Students. Proscribed by the Tory leadership in the 1980s, “Maggie’s Militant Tendency” were so called due to their reverence for Thatcher and their perceived entryist agenda, that mirrored the tactics of the left-wing organisation the Militant Tendency.
Continue reading “INVISIBLE HANDS: MAGGIE’S MILITANT TENDENCY”
A US based telecommunications investment company, that could lose millions of pounds in revenue under rule changes to the mobile phone mast renting system in the UK, has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds creating, managing and financing an astroturf campaign to put political pressure on the government to halt the reforms.
Continue reading “INVISIBLE HANDS: UK TELECOM ASTROTURF OFFENSIVE IN CORPORATE CIVIL WAR”
An evangelical organisation, founded by a Trump-supporting Nigerian cleric who describes homosexuality as “abominable”, has been running a dark money campaign on UK Facebook promoting an explicitly conservative religious agenda.
Continue reading “INVISIBLE HANDS: DARK MONEY ANTI-LGBTQ+ CAMPAIGN SHROUDED IN SECRECY”
An anonymous online campaign, which has initiated a formal legal challenge to the proposed Schools Bill, is being funded by a prominent leader of a conservative religious community.
Scrap The Schools Bill, a campaign that appeared on social media platforms at the start of September 2022, has so far spent over £2000 on ads targeting UK Facebook users. None of the online material for STSB discloses who is responsible for funding or managing the group’s activities.
Continue reading “INVISIBLE HANDS: THE OPAQUE CAMPAIGN TARGETING UK SCHOOLS BILL”
A gambling website has had over £800 worth of advertising removed by Facebook after violating rules regarding ads with political or social issue content.
Lord Ping posted 4 ads featuring gadfly journalist Mike Graham in which he lectured viewers on a variety of political and social issues in video blogs titled “Lord Ping’s Opinions”. These ads failed to run with a disclaimer identifying any individuals responsible for the ads, a direct violation of FB policy. The Lord Ping site has since removed two further ads (after we flagged them to FB) which promoted articles from their “Opinions” blog. These were not listed as containing social issue content, and again failed to run with a disclaimer.
Continue reading “LORD PING AND MIKE GRAHAM: GAMBLING WITH OUR FUTURE?”
Following Boris Johnson’s resignation as leader of the Conservative Party, a prominent campaign group that claims to be “a place for the grassroots to make themselves heard” has begun polling its members about who should replace him. Conservative Voice, like many other Tory organisations, are now scrambling to influence the direction of the party. The group itself has registered funding from only one wealthy Conservative donor, and is run by Thatcherite party activists and pro-Brexit, think-tank alumni.
Continue reading “Conservative Voice Ltd: Inside An Agenda-Setting Machine”
Despite Partygate. Despite the Covid contracts. Despite Brexit and the Northern Ireland protocol. Despite a spiralling cost of living crisis and a vote of no confidence from within his own party, a recent Observer poll found that UK voters still think Boris Johnson is a better Prime Minister than Keir Starmer would be.
Continue reading “The Maleficent Seven: Who Will Labour Aristocracy Choose To Replace Starmer?”
Individuals with links to right-wing think-tanks, political lobbying and the Conservative Party have established an anti-Communist “educational” organisation that does not reveal the sources of over £30k per year in funding.
Continue reading “Invisible Hands: The Libertarian Culture Warriors Targeting UK Schools”
Can a Labour politician whose upward trajectory is financially propelled by a “lobbygate” Lord, an heiress of the Sainsbury supermarket dynasty, and numerous Blairite millionaires, really be the frontrunner to lead the party ostensibly of, and for, the working class?
Continue reading “Wes Streeting: Rising Star of the “Extreme Centre-Left”?”
[A version of this article was originally published in The Ferret and The National.]
Organisations that do not disclose their funders are running astroturf campaigns that have spent over £80,000 on Facebook adverts attacking proposed anti-vaping legislation.
Continue reading “INVISIBLE HANDS- THE LIBERTARIAN CAMPAIGN AGAINST VAPING REGULATION”
The Free Press? 