The prime minister has not done enough to distance himself and his party from a conservative youth group linked to the Tory bullying scandal, according to the father of a young activist who is believed to have killed himself.
Ray Johnson, father of Elliott, who was found dead on railway tracks after allegedly being bullied, wrote to David Cameron to complain about the Young Britons’ Foundation (YBF), with which Elliott had been involved, describing it as a “cult”.
YBF, a conservative training, education and research thinktank, mentored among others Mark Clarke, the election aide accused of bullying Elliott. Clarke has denied all allegations of bullying and wrongdoing.
In his reply to Johnson, Cameron said the organisation is “independent” from the Conservative party and he cannot control who is invited to attend its events.
But Johnson said this was not enough. “If David Cameron is worried about the YBF he should make a strong point about it, instead of doing everything on the quiet,” he told the Guardian. “He should have banned his MPs from associating with a group that effectively indoctrinates young activists.”
Johnson was angered that cabinet ministers were set to speak at the organisation’s annual conference alongside Andre Walker, a lobby correspondent who was accused of “betraying” Elliott in a letter he wrote before he died. Walker has denied allegations of bullying.
Cameron wrote to Johnson: “I know you are concerned by the Young Britons’ Foundation. I hope you will appreciate this is an independent organisation that is not affiliated to the Conservative party.
“As such, I am afraid that the party has no control over who they invite to speak to their events and it is, of course, a matter for individual members of parliament to decide which organisations they meet and which events they address.”
The 12th YBF activist training conference on 11 December originally featured cabinet ministers Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Michael Fallon, Greg Hands, Chris Grayling, Robert Halfon and Eric Pickles. It now appears only Pickles remains on the speakers’ list. Elliott had attended previous conferences and spoke highly of the group in his blog postings.
Johnson said: “I see this organisation as an attempt to radicalise young people.
“I received a letter from the prime minister after I made a complaint to him about the fact that one of their guest speakers was Andre Walker.
“I said: ‘Are you happy with the fact your cabinet ministers are sharing a platform with one of the people accused of bullying my son? Are you happy with the fact youngsters are being indoctrinated by a cult?’
“He said he has no influence over MPs attending whatever they want. That’s a load of rubbish. I was talking about cabinet ministers, surely he has influence over cabinet ministers and what they attend or not.”
YBF was founded by Donal Blaney, the lawyer who also chairs Conservative Way Forward, the thinktank for whom Elliott worked at the time of his death in September. He has previously described YBF as “a madrasa”.
He said: “I can only imagine Ray Johnson’s grief at the loss of his son. I share his desire for justice.”
Addressing Johnson’s criticism of YBF, he said: “On this, Ray is sadly wrongly informed. His own son wrote the following after our conference last December: ‘YBF is an amazing organisation. You come into the YBF family knowing no-one and having only a loose affiliation to being rightwing. You leave with lots of friends and a much clearer idea of how this country should be run.’ I couldn’t agree with Elliott more.”
It is understood Elliott had purchased a ticket for this year’s conference.
The prime minister also expressed his “personal and heartfelt condolences” to Johnson’s family and spoke of the loss of his own son, Ivan, who died at the age of six in 2009.
“I know from my own experience of losing a child what an indescribable shock it is,” he wrote. “I also know that there are no words – no matter how well-meaning – that can possibly dampen the profound pain and grief you will be experiencing at this time. My heart goes out to you all.”
The letter also alludes to the Conservative party’s internal inquiry, which has since been handed over to law firm Clifford Chance to be run as an independent investigation.
Following this decision, the Tories also said they would ask an independent third party specialist to undertake a separate review of the party’s relationships with “all groups linked to, and campaigning on behalf of, the party”.
- In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here
