Letter to Liz Truss: Shine a light on the secretly-funded think tanks advising the government
In October, Left Foot Forward reported that representatives from the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) had been appointed to Department for International Trade’s Strategic Trade Advisory Group, to advise the government on trade.
Unlock Democracy’s Director Tom Brake has written to the Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss to ask:
For confirmation that due diligence was carried out by the Department for International Trade in relation to these think tanks’ income and funders.
To explain what additional checks were carried out on these organisations, to establish that their funding could not be linked to individuals who might be deemed to be agents of a foreign principal.
That if these checks were not carried out, then could the Secretary of State require the Adam Smith Institute and the Institute for Economic Affairs to make a full disclosure about their funding sources within 21 days, or have them removed from the group.
