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Inside the Temple of Covert Propaganda: the Integrity Initiative and the UK’S Scandalous Information War
Inside the Temple of Covert Propaganda: The Integrity Initiative and the UK’s Scandalous Information War By Mohamed Elmaazi and Max Blumenthal Region: Europe Global Research, December 20, 2018 Theme: Intelligence, Politics Gray Zone Project 17 December 2018 Recent hacked documents have revealed an international network of politicians, journalists, academics, researchers and military officers, all engaged in highly deceptive covert propaganda campaigns funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), NATO, Facebook and hardline national security institutions. This “network of networks”, as one document refers to them, centers around an ironically named outfit called the Integrity Initiative. And it is all overseen by a previously unknown England-based think tank registered in Scotland, the Institute for Statecraft, which has operated under a veil of secrecy. The whole operation appears to be run by, and in conjunction with, members of British military intelligence. According to David Miller, professor of political sociology in the school of policy studies at the University of Bristol and the director of the Organization for Propaganda Studies, the Integrity Initiative “appears to be a military directed push.” “The most senior government people are professional propagandists and spooks,” Miller explained. “The ‘charity’ lead on this [Chris Donnelly] was also appointed as a colonel in military intelligence at the beginning of the project — a truly amazing fact that suggests this is a military intelligence cut out.” A minister for the UK FCOhas officially confirmed that it has been funding the Integrity Network. In addition to conducting diplomacy, the FCO oversees both the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) the UK equivalent to the National Security Agency, and the Secret Intelligence Services (SIS) commonly known as MI6. -
ASD-Covert-Foreign-Money.Pdf
overt C Foreign Covert Money Financial loopholes exploited by AUGUST 2020 authoritarians to fund political interference in democracies AUTHORS: Josh Rudolph and Thomas Morley © 2020 The Alliance for Securing Democracy Please direct inquiries to The Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States 1700 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 T 1 202 683 2650 E [email protected] This publication can be downloaded for free at https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/covert-foreign-money/. The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the authors alone. Cover and map design: Kenny Nguyen Formatting design: Rachael Worthington Alliance for Securing Democracy The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), a bipartisan initiative housed at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, develops comprehensive strategies to deter, defend against, and raise the costs on authoritarian efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions. ASD brings together experts on disinformation, malign finance, emerging technologies, elections integrity, economic coercion, and cybersecurity, as well as regional experts, to collaborate across traditional stovepipes and develop cross-cutting frame- works. Authors Josh Rudolph Fellow for Malign Finance Thomas Morley Research Assistant Contents Executive Summary �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Introduction and Methodology �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� -
An Analysis of Euroskepticism's Influence on Britain's Vote to Leave the European Union
An Analysis of Euroskepticism’s Influence on Britain’s Vote to Leave the European Union* Kayla McCrary Abstract In June 2016, the United Kingdom held an in/out referendum on membership in the European Union (EU) resulting in a narrow victory for Euroskeptics. Historically, Britain has notably been a Euroskeptic nation, and the following analysis of Britain’s relationship with the EU will explore the implications of Brexit in context with Euroskepticism. This analysis is a result of previous research on the British vote to the leave the EU and draws substantially on research in the fields of voting patterns, social identity, and Britain’s unique characteristics that culminated in the vote to leave the EU. As a result, this paper relies heavily on historical implications of Euroskepticism as well as recent literature on the theories of Euroskeptic voting, demographics, and the history of the relationship between the UK and the EU. The paper concludes that populist and anti-globalist sentiments driven by political parties such as the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) mobilized Euroskepticism, allowing for a philosophy to transform into effective policy change. The main driving factors behind Britain’s unique position of leaving the EU were economic and social. This conclusion is substantiated by a constituency-based analysis, which utilizes demographic data, voter turnout, and the referendum result data in order to quantify Euroskepticism and its impact on the top constituencies that voted to leave the EU. Keywords: European Union, Euroskepticism, Brexit, UKIP, Britain, referenda *Adapted from “An Analysis of British Euroscepticism and Britain’s Vote to Leave the European Union,” a University Honors Thesis for Middle Tennessee State University. -
Brexit: Initial Reflections
Brexit: initial reflections ANAND MENON AND JOHN-PAUL SALTER* At around four-thirty on the morning of 24 June 2016, the media began to announce that the British people had voted to leave the European Union. As the final results came in, it emerged that the pro-Brexit campaign had garnered 51.9 per cent of the votes cast and prevailed by a margin of 1,269,501 votes. For the first time in its history, a member state had voted to quit the EU. The outcome of the referendum reflected the confluence of several long- term and more contingent factors. In part, it represented the culmination of a longstanding tension in British politics between, on the one hand, London’s relative effectiveness in shaping European integration to match its own prefer- ences and, on the other, political diffidence when it came to trumpeting such success. This paradox, in turn, resulted from longstanding intraparty divisions over Britain’s relationship with the EU, which have hamstrung such attempts as there have been to make a positive case for British EU membership. The media found it more worthwhile to pour a stream of anti-EU invective into the resulting vacuum rather than critically engage with the issue, let alone highlight the benefits of membership. Consequently, public opinion remained lukewarm at best, treated to a diet of more or less combative and Eurosceptic political rhetoric, much of which disguised a far different reality. The result was also a consequence of the referendum campaign itself. The strategy pursued by Prime Minister David Cameron—of adopting a critical stance towards the EU, promising a referendum, and ultimately campaigning for continued membership—failed. -
Resisting Foreign State Propaganda in the New Information Environment: the Case of the EU, Russia, and the Eastern Partnership Countries ISBN 978-9934-8536-9-2
RESISTING FOREIGN STATE PROPAGANDA IN THE NEW INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF THE EU, RUSSIA, AND THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES ISBN 978-9934-8536-9-2 UDK 32.019.5 Re708 This publication is a part of the project “Resisting state propaganda in the new information environment: The case of EU member states and EU Eastern Partnership states vis-à-vis the Russian Federation publication/re- search” organised by the Foundation for European Pro- gressive Studies (FEPS) with the support of Brīvības un Solidaritātes Fonds (BSF). RESISTING FOREIGN STATE PROPAGANDA IN THE NEW INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF THE EU, RUSSIA, AND THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES Table of contents Foreword Dr. Ernst Stetter 11 Foreword Ervins Labanovskis 17 PART I: INCREASING RESISTANCE TO PROPAGANDA WITHIN THE EU Countering propaganda in Europe: Responses and options Ben Nimmo 23 The role of national strategic narrative in raising resilience to hostile foreign propaganda in European societies Māris Cepurītis 39 Increasing the resistance of democratic states to hostile foreign propaganda— what is the right recipe? Elīna Lange-Ionatamišvili 52 The Audiovisual Media Services Directive and propaganda Andris Mellakauls 71 7 Key findings of the EED’s Feasibility PART III: THE VIEW FROM Study on independent Russian- THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES language media initiatives in the Eastern Partnership and beyond Farther from Russky Mir, Jerzy Pomianowski 89 Closer to the West Tamar Kintsurashvili 173 PART II: THE VIEW FROM THE BALTIC STATES Russian propaganda -
Additional Submissions to Parliament in Support of Inquiries Regarding Brexit Damian Collins MP Dear Mr Collins, Over the Past M
Additional Submissions to Parliament in Support of Inquiries Regarding Brexit Damian Collins MP Dear Mr Collins, Over the past many months, I have been going through hundreds of thousands of emails and documents, and have come across a variety of communications that I believe are important in furthering your inquiry into what happened between Cambridge Analytica, UKIP and the Leave.EU campaign. As multiple enquiries found that no work was done, I would like to appeal those decisions with further evidence that should hopefully help you and your colleagues reach new conclusions. As you can see with the evidence outlined below and attached here, chargeable work was completed for UKIP and Leave.EU, and I have strong reasons to believe that those datasets and analysed data processed by Cambridge Analytica as part of a Phase 1 payable work engagement (see the proposal documents submitted last April), were later used by the Leave.EU campaign without Cambridge Analytica’s further assistance. The fact remains that chargeable work was done by Cambridge Analytica, at the direction of Leave.EU and UKIP executives, despite a contract never being signed. Despite having no signed contract, the invoice was still paid, not to Cambridge Analytica but instead paid by Arron Banks to UKIP directly. This payment was then not passed onto Cambridge Analytica for the work completed, as an internal decision in UKIP, as their party was not the beneficiary of the work, but Leave.EU was. I am submitting the following additional materials to supplement the testimony and documents I gave to the DCMS Committee last year as follows: 1) FW PRESS INVITATION HOW TO WIN THE EU REFERENDUM INVITE ONLY.pdf a. -
Report on an Investigation in Respect of the Leave.EU Group Limited
Report on an investigation in respect of the Leave.EU Group Limited Concerning pre-poll transaction reports and the campaign spending return for the 2016 referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union 11 May 2018 1 Other formats For information on obtaining this publication in a large-print or Braille version, please contact the Electoral Commission: Tel: 020 7271 0500 Email: [email protected] The Electoral Commission is the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance in the UK. We work to promote public confidence in the democratic process and ensure its integrity. 2 Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 4 2 The decision to investigate .................................................................... 8 3 The investigation ................................................................................... 12 4 The investigation findings .................................................................... 14 5 Final determination on offences .......................................................... 28 Annex A: Legal framework .......................................................................... 29 3 1 Introduction The Electoral Commission 1.1 The Electoral Commission (“the Commission”) is the statutory regulator with the power, granted by an Act of Parliament, to set and enforce standards in relation to elections and referendums. Its functions include the regulation of political finances -
HJS 'Putin Sees and Hears It All' Report.Qxd
Putin SeeS and HearS it all: How ruSSia’S intelligence agencieS Menace tHe uK BY DR ANDREW FOXALL DEMOCRACY | FREEDOM | HUMAN RIGHTS November 2018 First published in 2018 by The Henry Jackson Society. The Henry Jackson Society Millbank Tower 21-24 Millbank London SW1P 4QP Registered charity no. 1140489 Tel: +44 (0)20 7340 4520 www.henryjacksonsociety.org © The Henry Jackson Society, 2018. All rights reserved. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and are not necessarily indicative of those of The Henry Jackson Society or its Trustees. Title: “PuTiN SEES AND HEARS iT ALL: HOW RuSSiA’S iNTELLigENcE AgENciES MENAcE THE uK” By: Dr Andrew Foxall Putin SeeS and HearS it all: How ruSSia’S intelligence agencieS Menace tHe uK BY DR ANDREW FOXALL November 2018 PuTiN SEES AND HEARS iT ALL “Dr. Foxall’s report forcefully reminds us that Russian Intelligence activity in the West is still large scale and intrusive, and that we need to devote significant resources and expertise ourselves to monitoring and blunting this threat to our national security. As during the Cold War an effective counterintelligence capability remains an essential part of our own intelligence and security community.” Sir richard dearlove KcMg oBe chief of the Secret intelligence Service (Mi6) (1999-2004) “Anyone who is relaxed or complacent about Russian intelligence activity in the United Kingdom should read this Report. Not only have we experienced the murder of Litvinenko and the attempted murder of the Skripals on British soil, Britain and the West as a whole face an unrelenting assault from Putin’s bloated intelligence and security agencies. -
Arron Banks V HMRC
[2020] UKUT 0101 (TCC) Appeal number:UT/2019/0024 INHERITANCE TAX – exemption for gifts to political parties – s 24 Inheritance Tax Act 1984 – gift to UK Independence Party not within scope of exemption – whether breach of European Convention on Human Rights – whether breach of European Union law UPPER TRIBUNAL TAX AND CHANCERY CHAMBER ARRON BANKS Appellant - and - THE COMMISSIONERS FOR HER Respondents MAJESTY’S REVENUE & CUSTOMS TRIBUNAL: Mrs Justice Falk Judge Timothy Herrington Sitting in public at The Rolls Building, The Royal Courts of Justice, Fetter Lane, London EC4 on 18, 19 and 20 February 2020 Imran Afzal, Counsel, for the Appellant Christopher Stone, Counsel, instructed by the General Counsel and Solicitor to HM Revenue and Customs, for the Respondents © CROWN COPYRIGHT 2020 DECISION Introduction 5 1. The appellant (“Mr Banks”) appeals against a decision by the First-tier Tribunal (“FTT”) (Judge Ashley Greenbank) released on 15 October 2018 (the “Decision”). The FTT refused the appeal of Mr Banks against a notice of determination dated 15 February 2017 issued by the respondents (“HMRC”) which assessed him to inheritance tax (“IHT”) in the amount of £162,945.34 on donations that he or a company that he 10 controlled made to the UK Independence Party (“UKIP”) in the period from 7 October 2014 to 31 March 2015. 2. It is common ground that the donations constituted “transfers of value” within s 3 Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (“IHTA”). The parties also agree that the transfers of value comprising the donations made by a company controlled by Mr Banks can be treated 15 as having been made by him under s 94 IHTA. -
Disinformation and 'Fake News': Interim Report
House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Disinformation and ‘fake news’: Interim Report Fifth Report of Session 2017–19 Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 24 July 2018 HC 363 Published on 29 July 2018 by authority of the House of Commons The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and its associated public bodies. Current membership Damian Collins MP (Conservative, Folkestone and Hythe) (Chair) Clive Efford MP (Labour, Eltham) Julie Elliott MP (Labour, Sunderland Central) Paul Farrelly MP (Labour, Newcastle-under-Lyme) Simon Hart MP (Conservative, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire) Julian Knight MP (Conservative, Solihull) Ian C. Lucas MP (Labour, Wrexham) Brendan O’Hara MP (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute) Rebecca Pow MP (Conservative, Taunton Deane) Jo Stevens MP (Labour, Cardiff Central) Giles Watling MP (Conservative, Clacton) The following Members were also members of the Committee during the inquiry Christian Matheson MP (Labour, City of Chester) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication Committee reports are published on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/dcmscom and in print by Order of the House. Evidence relating to this report is published on the inquiry publications page of the Committee’s website. -
Political Pamphlet: the State of the Media
Annual 2018 Political Pamphlet: The State Of The Media #bylinepoliticalpamphlet Edited by Bethany Usher Contents Introduction: The State of the Media 1. “THE STATE OF THE MEDIA: WHY BYLINE MATTERS AND WHERE THE FESTIVAL GOES NEXT.” Peter Jukes and Stephen Colegrave – Byline Festival. “THE STATE OF THE MEDIA: A POLITICAL PAMPHLET FOR THE 21ST CENTURY”. Dr Bethany Usher - Newcastle University. One: Celebrity, Media and Power 2. “THERE IS NO HOPE – THERE NEVER WAS.” John Cleese on the British press, politics and celebrity muckraking. 3. “BETWEEN FAKE NEWS AND PROPAGANDA, IT IS HARD TO KNOW WHO TO TRUST.” Gary Lineker discusses being a celebrity with opinions and how we can improve the health of public debate. 4. “I ONCE DEVELOPED A BIT OF A CRUSH ON BORIS JOHNSON. NOW I’M DESPERATE FOR JEREMY CORBYN’S ATTENTION.” Alexei Sayle considers the dangers of charismatic politicians and their influence on news agendas. Two: Brexit, Trump, Russia and the Great Data Swindle. 5. “I CALL IT THE TOP GEAR AESTHETIC. THEY THINK OF THE WHOLE THING AS LADDISH BANTER.” The Guardian’s Carole Cadwalladr discusses the Bad Boys of Brexit 6. “I WAS TOLD TO FOLLOW THE SEX AND FOLLOW THE MONEY.” Former Guardian Russia Correspondent Luke Harding talks Trump’s ties with Russia and his own brushes with the KGB. 7. “WE ARE REAPING WHAT WE SOWED AS A SOCIETY.” American journalists Sarah Kendzior and Eileen De Freest lead a range of voices discussing Donald Trump and what his election means for democracy. 8. “BYLINE TALKS CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA, RUSSIAN BOTS AND THE GREAT SILICON VALLEY SWINDLE.” With a leading discussion from Damian Collins MP, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, key names in the debate around the dangers of tech companies consider whether Silicon Valley is a danger to democracy. -
Populism Or Embedded Plutocracy? the Emerging World Order
City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research Hunter College 2019 Populism or Embedded Plutocracy? The Emerging World Order Michael Lee CUNY Hunter College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_pubs/603 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Draft: Populism or Embedded Plutocracy? Envisioning the Emerging World Order Introduction The liberal world order is in dire straits. The world of moderately open migration, free trade, and free flows of capital that has existed since the 1970s is under attack. Liberal democracies around the world have seen the rise of far-right political parties trading in xenophobia, while attacking traditional liberal institutions. Many political scientists, increasingly committed to country-specific studies, or mid-level theories of small phenomenon are picking up many of these developments, while missing common threads between them. We are bearing witness to systemic changes. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, the United States and its allies in the G-7 constructed a new neo-liberal world order characterized by relatively open migration, free trade, and free flows of capital.1 Today, that order is collapsing in the face of its internal contradictions. Free flows of capital, combined with the privileged position of the American dollar, saddled the global economy with recurrent financial crises. Internally, the implementation of many neoliberal policies (and creation of transnational workarounds) undermined many of the civil society groups vital for broad-based democracy.