The Atlantic Bridge Research and Education Scheme was an educational charity founded in 1997 with

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

as its president to promote

Atlanticism Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism, is the belief in or support for a close relationship between the peoples and governments in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and those in Europe (the countries of the European Union, the ...

, an ideology of cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States regarding political, economic, and defence issues. It was set up by

Liam Fox Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party, Fox has served as th ...

, former

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...

of the United Kingdom. Cabinet ministers

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

and

William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, and Chris Grayling have previously sat on its advisory panel, as have American senators

Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl ( ; born April 25, 1942) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013 and again in 2018. A Republican, he held both of Arizona's Senate seats at different times, ser ...

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee ...

and

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

. The organisation's principal staff included Catherine Bray (US Executive Director), Adam Werritty (UK Executive Director) and Kara Watt (Operations Director). It was dissolved in September 2011, following a critical report from the

Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...

the previous year.Alt URL
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Activities

In discussion with the ''

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Although it transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, it rem ...

'', Fox claimed that the think tank was intended to "bring people together who have common interests and recognise that...

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

will all be called upon to defend those... interests". Its work largely consisted of uniting British and American Conservatives and foreign policy hawks. This included meetings with

John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and former politician who served as the 79th U.S. Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2005. A former U.S. Senator from Missouri and the 50th ...

and

Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August 3 ...

and the presentation of awards to

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

and

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

. In 2003, when Fox was Shadow Secretary for Health, he also chaired a conference on "scientific research and medical provision". Speakers included Grace-Marie Turner of the

Galen Institute The Galen Institute is an American non-profit research organization that focuses on market-based policy solutions in health care. According to itmission statement it works to promote “public debate and education about proposals that support ind ...

, Timothy Morris of

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...

and Peter Farrow of

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

Funding and partnerships

The Atlantic Bridge was briefly a partnership program of the

American Legislative Exchange Council The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United State ...

(ALEC), a free-market organisation with extensive links to American State Legislators and corporate and industrial groups. It has hosted events with the

Center for Security Policy The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is a US far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The organization's founder and current president is Frank Gaffney Jr. who is known for promoting falsehoods about former U.S. President B ...

, the

Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the presiden ...

and representatives from

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

. Patrons of the Atlantic Bridge have included

UK Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

donor

Michael Hintze Michael Hintze, Baron Hintze, (born 27 July 1953) is an Australian-British businessman and philanthropist, based in the United Kingdom. According to the ''Sunday Times'' 2019 Rich List, Hintze's net worth is 1.5 billion, an increase of 1 ...

, a key funder of Atlantic Bridge who provided 58% of the charity's voluntary income,

, and Michael Lewis of the

Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre The Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) is a UK-based organisation which acts to promote awareness of Israel and the Middle East in the United Kingdom. BICOM publishes materials such as briefings and a journal, ''Fathom'', ...

Charity Commission report

The Atlantic Bridge gained charitable status in 2003 as an "education and research scheme". In September 2009, the Charity Commission started a regulatory compliance case after receiving a complaint about the charity. A 2010 report by the Charity Commission ruled that it was "not evident that thad advanced education" and "may lead members of the public to call into question its independence from party politics". It was ordered to enact a 12-month review to bring it into line with its charitable objectives. On 30 September 2011, The Atlantic Bridge was dissolved by its trustees.

Controversy

In October 2011, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper published details of an alleged improper relationship and interactions between Adam Werritty and Liam Fox, culminating in Liam Fox's resignation on 14 October and a continuing official investigation. The controversy surrounded Werritty attending official defence meetings with Fox (notably in Pakistan) despite not being employed in any official capacity by the British government, Werritty's running of Pargav Ltd, and his ties with powerful Tory figures, supporters, and lobbyists through The Atlantic Bridge. Considering the rejected charitable status of The Atlantic Bridge, the question of Fox's independence and the distinction between the government, think-tanks, charities, and private business and corporate interests has been raised. Werritty was investigated by senior civil servants led by Cabinet Secretary Sir

Gus O'Donnell Augustine Thomas O'Donnell, Baron O'Donnell, (born 1 October 1952) is a former British senior civil servant and economist, who between 2005 and 2011 (under three Prime Ministers) served as the Cabinet Secretary, the highest official in the Bri ...

. The published report implicated a company named

IRG Ltd IRG may stand for: * IATA airport code for Lockhart River Airport * Ideographic Research Group on coded Han character sets * Intelligent Robotics Group * International Resources Group, a professional services firm * Iranian Revolutionary Guard ...

, "But the report, which named the six companies and individuals that funded Werritty's Pargav "slush fund", has raised more unanswered questions. Among the Pargav donors, including the mining tycoon

Mick Davis Sir Michael Lawrence Davis (born 15 February 1958) is a British politician and former South African businessman, former Chief Executive and Treasurer of the Conservative Party and the chief executive (CEO) of Xstrata plc, an Anglo-Swiss multina ...

, private investigations firm G3 and billionaire property mogul

Poju Zabludowicz Chaim "Poju" Zabludowicz (born 6 April 1953) is a Finnish-born British billionaire businessman, art collector and philanthropist.Midgley, Dominic (5 March 2010)"FINN CITY..." ''Highbeam Business'' (London). Retrieved 23 June 2013. Early life a ...

, is a company referred to as simply "IRG Ltd". More than 30 companies and organisations use the same initials, including an Iraq-focused charity, an executive recruitment agency linked to the former Tory minister

Virginia Bottomley Virginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, (née Garnett, born 12 March 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician, and headhunter. She was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons from 1984 ...

and a pizza restaurant in Basildon."

References

External links

The Atlantic Bridge
official website (now offline)
Liam Fox's Atlantic Bridge linked top Tories and Tea Party activists
Jaime Doward, ''

'', 16 October 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantic Bridge, The Think tanks based in the United Kingdom Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom Conservative organisations in the United Kingdom Defunct organisations based in the United Kingdom Organizations disestablished in 2011 Conservative political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom 1997 establishments in the United Kingdom 2011 disestablishments in the United Kingdom United Kingdom–United States relations Think tanks established in 1997