Have you watched Channel 4/ Verbatim’s recent documentary on Reform’s “secret foreign donations”? I covered it earlier this month, and promised to soon share 10 examples of foreign funding on the Left – to show just how hypocritical they are.
Without further ado:
Verbatim Investigations
Ironically, the organisation that jointly produced Channel 4 News’ investigation into the “secret foreign donations” of Reform receives foreign funding. Verbatim is funded by the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR), which – according to Raheem J. Kassam, who has written an excellent piece on the topic – is funded by foreign groups including the European Climate Foundation, KR Foundation and Swiss Philanthropy Foundation.
Pierre Omidyar’s donations to “Fair Vote”
Pierre Omidyar is a French-born Iranian-American billionaire who founded eBay, where he was chairman from 1998. He’s in charge of the “Luminate Group”, which funds “Fair Vote”, one of a number of lobby groups that wants the UK’s First Past the Post voting system to be replaced with Proportional Representation. Fair Vote, in turn, donated £9,001-10,500 to the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPGs) for Fair Elections, whose officers include Alex Sobel (Labour and Cooperative), Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat), Lord Balfe (Conservative) and Ellie Chowns (Green). APPGs are one of the easiest ways for foreign funders (and all funders) to interfere in Parliamentary democracy.
Omidyar funds other things in the UK, including Climate Spring, an organisation I covered in August that helps embed climate narratives into popular entertainment.
Trips paid for by foreign governments
