Policy Exchange

From Neocon Europe

Jump to: navigation, search

Policy Exchange is a neoconservative think tank with close ties to Conservative leader David Cameron. It was launched in April 2002 by Francis Maude and Archie Norman with Nicholas Boles as its founding director.[1] It is part of the Stockholm Network.[2]

Contents

Conservative links

According to the Sunday Times, Policy Exchange had "the blessing of the [Conservative] party hierarchy" at its launch.[3]

David Cameron set out his vision for the future of the Conservative Party in a speech at Policy Exchange in June 2005, some months before he became party leader.[4]

PR Week highlighted Policy Exchange's role as a point of access to the Cameron-led Conservative Party in 2006:

'Boles says its key areas of interest will be economic competitiveness, security and terrorism, childcare, the environment and public service reform. A main income source is a 'business forum' that companies pay £5,000 to £10,000 to be part of. Members include BP, SAB Miller, BSkyB and Bupa.
'Corporates want intelligence about the policy directions and instincts of how a Cameron-led government would think', he explains. Like many think-tanks, Policy Exchange works with lobbyists to help stage and fund debates, with a pinnacle of activity around the autumn party conferences. But Bowles adds: 'We're nervous of the perception that corporates are sponsoring research because that undermines our credibility'.'[5]

Tim Adams wrote in The Observer of the ongoing connection in 2008:

In the three years since Cameron's speech, as his star has risen so has that of Policy Exchange (despite the embarrassment of Newsnight's exposé of its questionable research into radical Islam, and the recent report suggesting northern cities were doomed). Its staff has increased from 5 to 35, its budget, mostly donations from the City, has grown nearly tenfold. One of its founders, Nick Boles, has become head of policy for Cameron; its former chief researcher, James O'Shaughnessy, is now chief researcher at Tory central office; current director Anthony Browne has just been appointed head of policy for Boris Johnson in London...By the time of this year's Policy Exchange summer party, attended by the entire Cameron court, and a good proportion of New Labour's old entourage, there was a glister of a movement that believed it was winning the argument.[6]

Martin Bright pamphlet

In July 2006, Policy Exchange printed When Progressives Treat With Reactionaries, a pamphlet collecting a series of stories by Martin Bright on the British Governments relations with Muslim groups.[7] Much of the material came from Foreign Office offical Derek Pasquill, who was strongly critical of Foreign Office adviser Mockbul Ali and the Government's relationship with the Muslim Council of Britain.[8] Pasquill was charged under the Official Secrets Act, but the case was dropped in January 2008. According to a Guardian report on the hearing, the prosecution "indicated that internal FCO papers revealed that senior officials privately admitted that, far from harming British interests, Pasquill's leaking of the documents had actually helped to provoke a constructive debate."[9]

Newsnight controversy

In October 2007, Dean Godson oversaw the publication of The Hijacking of British Islam: How Extremist Literature is Subverting Mosques in the UK, by Denis MacEoin.[10] According to this report, which claimed to be 'the most comprehensive academic survey of such literature ever produced in this country', Policy Exchange sent four Muslim research teams to almost 100 mosques across Britain, and found radical material at 25 per cent of the institutions surveyed.[11]The Report's recommendations included calls for the British authorities to reconsider their relationship to the Muslim Council of Britain, the Islamic Foundation and the Muslim Safety Forum.[12]

The report's findings were widely covered in the British media with articles appearing in, for example, The Daily Mail[13], the Daily Telegraph[14] and The Times.[15]According to Newsnight editor Peter Barron, the BBC had originally been due to run an exclusive report on the findings:

On the planned day of broadcast our reporter Richard Watson came to me and said he had a problem. He had put the claim and shown a receipt to one of the mosques mentioned in the report - The Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in London. They had immediately denied selling the book and said the receipt was not theirs.[16]

On closer examination, the BBC identified particular concerns about five of the receipts in particular:

  1. In all five cases the mosques involved said the receipts did not belong to them.
  2. The expert analysis showed that all five had been printed on an inkjet printer - suggesting they were created on a PC.
  3. The analysis found "strong evidence" that two of the receipts were written by the same person.
  4. The analysis found that one of the receipts had been written out while resting on another receipt said to be from a mosque 40 miles away.[17]

On 12 December 2007, Newsnight ran a report on these concerns, followed by a studio discussion between Jeremy Paxman and Dean Godson, during which Godson accused Barron of "disastrous editorial misjudgement" and of "appalling stewardship of Newsnight". [18]

An initial statement on 12 December, 'the executive of Policy Exchange will meet on Thursday 13th to discuss legal action against the BBC'.[19]A second response the next day stated that 'Policy Exchange is in legal consultations about action in this matter.'[20]The BBC responded: 'Policy Exchange's statement is misleading in many ways and doesn't answer the simple question raised by Newsnight's film. Given that the Policy Exchange report was based on the testimony of the researchers who gathered the receipts, do they believe all the receipts are genuine?'[21]

In the Daily Telegraph on 15 December, Policy Exchange Chairman Charles Moore accused Peter Barron of questioning the receipts in order to justify his original decision not to run the report.

Given that the report was being published that night, the obvious thing for Newsnight to do was to broadcast Policy Exchange's findings at once, allowing the mosques to have their say about the receipts.
There was no need for Newsnight to claim "ownership" of the report. Instead, the editor, Peter Barron, decided to run nothing. His decision meant the Policy Exchange report was not touched by the BBC at all.[22]

On 17 December, The Times issued an apology to Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari of the East London Mosque in connection with its coverage of the report.[23]

In February 2008, Private Eye reported that 'furious Conservatives say they've no option but to sue or take a dossier on Peter Barron, Newsnight's editor, to the BBC's senior management.'[24]In a letter in the following issue, Barron responded 'Policy Exchange promised to investigate these discrepancies, but two months later they have still not said if they believe these receipts are genuine.'[25]

In September 2008, the North London Central Mosque issued a writ in the High Court over the report's allegations.[26]

In March 2009, the report appeared to have been removed from the Policy Exchange website, where the following statement appeared:

The Hijacking of British Islam:
Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre
In this report we state that Al-Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre is one of the Centres where extremist literature was found. Policy Exchange accepts the Centre’s assurances that none of the literature cited in the Report has ever been sold or distributed at the Centre with the knowledge or consent of the Centre’s trustees or staff, who condemn the extremist and intolerant views set out in such literature. We are happy to set the record straight.[27][28]

London Politics

Replacing the Routemaster

In October 2005, Policy Exchange published Replacing the Routemaster, a pamphlet attacking London Mayor's Ken Livingstone decision to replace London's traditional Routemaster buses with the modern 'bendy bus' design. Edited by Dean Godson, the pamphlet also included contributions from Simon Jenkins, Andrew Gilligan, Andrew Morgan, Dominic Walley, Zac Goldsmith, Colin Cramphorn, Kate Bernard and Kate Hoey.[29]

Cramphorn's contribution highlighted a Policy Exchange event on 18 July 2005, at which IRA defector Sean O'Callaghan had claimed that the conductors employed on routemasters had deterred IRA bombers.[30]

Boris Johnson subsequently made the return of the Routemaster a key plank of his Conservative campaign for the 2008 London Mayoral election.[31]

Boris Johnson Campaign

Policy Exchange founder Nick Boles had been considered a potential Conservative mayoral candidate but but bowed out of the running because he needed cancer treatment.[32]A former Policy Exchange director Dan Ritterband was appointed as Boris Johnson's campaign manager.[33][34]

Boris Johnson Administration

Nick Boles became transition chief of staff following Boris Johnson's election as mayor.[35] In May 2008, Boris Johnson appointed Munira Mirza as his Director of Policy, Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries.[36] In July that year, he appointed Former Policy Exchange Director Anthony Browne as his Head of Policy,[37] while Dan Ritterband became director of marketing.[38] Sir Simon Milton, a member of Policy Exchange's advisory council, became Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning in September 2008.[39]

Charities Commission investigation

Policy Exchange was investigated by the Charities Commission after an MP complained in February 2007 that it was close to the Conservative Party. The Charities Commission report found no evidence of party political bias but identified a number of issues:

events hosted by the Charity – For an event to be educational under charity law it needs to be clearly linked to and advance a programme of research which should be identified prior to the event. We identified that the charity had hosted a series of one-off events to stimulate ideas or to promote the charity’s brand which often included attendance by MP’s;
dissemination of information – Research papers produced by the Charity are easily accessible on their website, however, very little information was given on other events hosted by the Charity. All charities must demonstrate that they operate for the public benefit. In this case, Policy Exchange could demonstrate public benefit through the dissemination of transcripts and papers arising out of each event;
and transparency – The original source of concern was that the Charity was supporting a political party and carrying out political activities. Whilst the Commission determined that there was no evidence of party political bias we determined that there is a need for greater transparency, particularly on Policy Exchange’s website. Information contained on the website following events in 2007 failed to sufficiently highlight or identify the cross-party speakers at events hosted by the Charity.[40]

Policy Exchange agreed to conduct a 12-month review of the areas identified by the Commission.

Global Peace and Unity controversy

In October 2008, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg criticised Policy Exchange in a letter to its director Neil O'Brien for briefing against the Global Peace and Unity event in London.

The Policy Exchange briefing I have seen seeks to raise alarm over a number of the speakers planning to attend the conference. The accuracy of the allegations is variable, with a notable lack of evidence to support many of the claims.
In particular I was appalled to see ‘evidence’ quoted from the Society for American National Existence, an organisation which seeks to make the practice of Islam illegal, punishable by 20 years in prison. I need hardly point out how illogical it is to attempt to criticise one set of extreme views by citing another.
My concern is not limited to the facts in the document, however. Your attempt to raise a boycott of this event by privately briefing against it is bizarre, and underhand behaviour for a think-tank supposedly interested in open public debate. The information you are disseminating is extremely narrow in focus and as a result tars with the brush of extremism the tens of thousands of Muslims who will be in attendance.[41]

The Policy Exchange briefing also referenced an article by Patrick Poole in FrontPage Magazine. The briefing itself is a word document and the 'properties' of the file reveal that it was written by Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens whose previous posts include working at Standpoint Magazine, the Hoover Institution and the Foundation for Defence of Democracies.[42]

Events

On 17 March 2008, (St Patrick's Day), Policy Exchange hosted a panel discussion entitled "So What Were the Troubles All About". The scheduled list of speakers included Ed Moloney, Sir John Chilcot, Professor Henry Patterson, Anthony McIntyre and Lord Bew.[43]Lord Trimble and Gary Kent were among those who arrived at Policy Exchange's Storey's Gate building on the evening of the event.[44]

Funding

Andy Beckett reports:

...Policy Exchange truly began to prosper. In the financial year 2004-5 its income was £584,000, according to accounts submitted to the Charity Commission. In 2006-7 it was £1,585,000. Money comes in from trusts and foundations, from companies such as Microsoft, and from wealthy individuals. Unlike large donations to political parties, large donations to thinktanks, even one with close links to a particular party, are still allowed to be anonymous. "We have a lot of connections in the City," says Browne. One trustee, George Robinson, is the cofounder of Sloane Robinson, one of Britain's most profitable hedge funds. In 2006-7 the area of research which attracted the most money was one of Dean Godson's specialities: "security".[45]

Reports

Terrorism and security

People

Board of Trustees

Principals and Staff

Former Staff

Contact References and Resources

Contact

Website www.policyexchange.org.uk Registed to Nicholas Boles.

Resources

References

  1. ↑ Ed Vaizey, The New Breed of Policy Wonk is a Doer and a Thinker, Sunday Times, 14 July 2002.
  2. ↑ Thnk Tank details, Stockholm Network, accessed 7 April 2009.
  3. ↑ Ed Vaizey, The New Breed of Policy Wonk is a Doer and a Thinker, Sunday Times, 14 July 2002.
  4. ↑ Full text: David Cameron's speech to Policy Exchange, guardian.co.uk. 29 June 2005.
  5. ↑ British politics is hotting up at last and PA professionals are preparing for the change in leadership and policy, Ravi Chandiramani, PR Week, 16 February 2006.
  6. ↑ Tim Adams, 'Have the Right taken all the best ideas?', The Observer, 31 August 2008
  7. ↑ Publications - When Progressives Treat with Reactionaries: The British State's flirtation with radical Islamism, Policy Exchange, accessed 3 April 2009.
  8. ↑ Derek Pasquill, I had no choice but to leak, New Statesman,17 January 2009.
  9. ↑ Richard Norton-Taylor, Civil servant who leaked rendition secrets goes free, The Guardian, 10 January 2008.
  10. ↑ The Hijacking of British Islam: How Extremist Literature is Subverting Mosques in the UK, by Denis MacEoin, [[Policy Exchange], 29 October 2007.
  11. ↑ The Hijacking of British Islam: How Extremist Literature is Subverting Mosques in the UK, by Denis MacEoin, [[Policy Exchange], 29 October 2007, p.5.
  12. ↑ The Hijacking of British Islam: How Extremist Literature is Subverting Mosques in the UK, by Denis MacEoin, [[Policy Exchange], 29 October 2007, p7.
  13. ↑ Excerpts from articles featuring Policy Exchange - October 30 2007: Daily Mail: Agenda of hate in British mosques is linked to Saudis, Policy Exchange (accessed 9 March 2008)
  14. ↑ 'Hate literature easily found at UK mosques', by Toby Helm, Daily Telegraph, 31 October 2007.
  15. ↑ Lessons in hate found at leading mosques, by Sean O'Neill, The Times, 30 October 2007.
  16. ↑ 'Disastrous misjudgement?', by Peter Barron, BBC News - The Editors, 13 December 2007.
  17. ↑ 'Disastrous misjudgement?', by Peter Barron, BBC News - The Editors, 13 December 2007.
  18. ↑ BBC News - Talk About Newsnight - Newsnight Response to Policy Exchange Statement, 14 December 2007, accessed 9 March 2008.
  19. ↑ Policy Exchange and BBC Newsnight, Policy Exchange, 12 December 2007, accessed 9 March 2008.
  20. ↑ Policy Exchange and Newsnight (2),Policy Exchange, 13 December 2007, accessed 9 March 2008.
  21. ↑ BBC News - Talk About Newsnight - Newsnight Response to Policy Exchange Statement, 14 December 2007, accessed 9 March 2008.
  22. ↑ Newsnight told a small story over a big one, by Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph, 15 December 2007
  23. ↑ Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, The Times, 17 December 2007.
  24. ↑ Media News: Newsnight and the Mosques, by 'Ratbiter', Private Eye No. 1203, 8 February-21 February 2008, p.8.
  25. ↑ Receipt deceit? by Peter Barron, Private Eye No.1204, 22 February-6 March 2008, p.15
  26. ↑ London mosque sues think-tank, by Megan Murphy, FT.com, 23 September 2008.
  27. ↑ Sunny Hundal, Exclusive: Policy Exchange forced to apologise; takes report off website, Liberal Conspiracy, 30 March 2009.
  28. ↑ [http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/ Policy Exchange, accessed 2 April 2009.
  29. ↑ Replacing the Routemaster, edited by Dean Godson, Policy Exchange, October 2005.
  30. ↑ Ex-IRA man calls for better security on buses, by David Pallister, The Guardian, 19 July 2005.
  31. ↑ Scrap the bendy bus and bring back Routemasters, says Boris, by Paul Waugh, Evening Standard, 12 September 2007.
  32. ↑ Robert Watts and Jonathan Oliver, Tory HQ team puts reins on Boris Johnson, Sunday Times, 11 May 2008.
  33. ↑ Robert Watts and Jonathan Oliver, Tory HQ team puts reins on Boris Johnson, Sunday Times, 11 May 2008.
  34. ↑ Hélène Mulholland, Who are Boris Johnson's advisers?, guardian.co.uk, 15 December 2008.
  35. ↑ Robert Watts and Jonathan Oliver, Tory HQ team puts reins on Boris Johnson, Sunday Times, 11 May 2008.
  36. ↑ Boris Johnson unveils new Director of Policy, Arts, Culture and the Creative Industries, Greater London Authority, 14 May 2008.
  37. ↑ Anthony Browne leaves Policy Exchange to become Boris Johnson's Policy Director, ToryDiary, ConservativeHome, 21 July 2008.
  38. ↑ Hélène Mulholland, Who are Boris Johnson's advisers?, guardian.co.uk, 15 December 2008.
  39. ↑ Hélène Mulholland, Who are Boris Johnson's advisers?, guardian.co.uk, 15 December 2008.
  40. ↑ Policy Exchange, Regulatory Case Report, Charities Commission, 18 July 2008.
  41. ↑ Clegg attacks thinktank's "underhand" briefing on 'Unity' festival, PoliticsHome, 24 October 2008.
  42. ↑ Policy Exchange Alumni: Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, Research Fellow, 2008., accessed 6 April 2009
  43. ↑ Dean Godson email, 11 March 2008.
  44. ↑ Personal observation by Tom Griffin.
  45. ↑ Andy Beckett, What can they be thinking?, Guardian, G2, 26 September 2008.
  46. ↑ Publications on Terrorism and Security Issues, (Accessed: 13 December 2007)
  47. ↑ Policy Exchange - About Us, accessed 17 December 2007
  48. ↑ Andy Beckett, What can they be thinking?, Guardian, G2, 26 September 2008.
  49. ↑ Andy Beckett, What can they be thinking?, Guardian, G2, 26 September 2008.
  50. ↑ Henry Deedes, Pandora: Blast from the past as Boris's 'close' friend joins Policy Exchange, Independent, 3 September 2008.
Retrieved from "http://neoconeurope.eu/Policy_Exchange"
Personal tools