Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott is being used to promote a global pro-Brexit lobby group – despite the organisation admitting he has no formal connection with them.
Abbott is one of two global figures featuring prominently in the promotional material of World4Brexit, a new organisation designed to raise funds outside of the UK to support Brexit. It will use the money to lobby, run social media campaigns, place op-eds in mainstream media, and “build watchdog groups to investigate media bias”.
UK Labour fears the organisation will raise money from hidden foreign donors and risk thwarting the nation’s electoral laws. W4B is co-run by Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit party, but its financial backers are so far largely unknown. The group has registered in Michigan in the United States as a “social welfare non-profit promoting community welfare”. Registering in such a way allows it to keep its donors hidden.
Abbott and Donald Trump Jr are pictured and quoted as global pro-Brexit figures in the organisation’s documentation.
The W4B chair, Peggy Grande, a former executive assistant to Ronald Reagan, said she wanted Abbott to be involved in the group more formally, but confirmed “as of now he has no affiliation with W4B”.
“Regarding your questions about Tony Abbott he is not directly connected to our organization,” she told Guardian Australia in a statement. “While we would welcome his involvement, as of now he has no affiliation with W4B.” Guardian Australia has approached Abbott for comment.
Grande wouldn’t say whether the group had received donations from Australians. She said only that W4B would “welcome supporters from Australia, as well as the rest of the world”.
“We welcome and have received donations from all corners of the globe but haven’t specifically singled out or targeted Australia for donations,” she said.
When asked if Abbott had given permission to be used in promotional material, Grande said that his “image and his quote are both in the public domain”.
UK Labour has not suggested that the organisation is currently breaching electoral laws. But it has asked the UK electoral commission to take pre-emptive action to ensure its fundraising remains within the bounds of the law.
The UK requires that donors funding individual candidates or parties base themselves locally, to promote proper transparency of political financing. But W4B says it is not donating to parties or individuals, only raising money to conduct activities in support of the broader Brexit movement.
The UK Labour shadow cabinet minister Chris Matheson wrote to the electoral commission last month urging it to examine W4B’s funding sources, potential links with the Brexit party, and what it was using money for. He said the commission must ensure money from W4B did not go to UK candidates or parties.
“It appears that money raised anonymously in the US and possibly other countries will find its way to the UK,” Matheson wrote. “This in itself is not illegal, but it does raise urgent questions as to what that money will be used for, and what steps the Electoral Commission should take to reassure the public that no electoral laws are broken.”
