The Institute for Free Trade, set up by Tory MEP Daniel Hannan and supported by Boris Johnson, was threatened with a fine

A thinktank set up by Daniel Hannan, a pro-Brexit Conservative MEP, has changed its name and website after it faced a possible fine for describing itself as an “institute” without permission.

The Institute for Free Trade (IFT) was launched by Hannan in September. In a controversial decision, Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, allowed the launch event to take place at a Foreign Office venue and attended alongside fellow cabinet Brexiters Michael Gove and Liam Fox.

The organisation faced an inquiry from Companies House over its name. The use of the word “institute” is protected by law and reserved for established organisations “that typically undertake research at the highest level, or are professional bodies of the highest standing”.

It can be used only after permission has been granted by Companies House and the business secretary.

The thinktank’s website previously cited its name throughout as the Institute for Free Trade, while Hannan’s Twitter biography said he was president of the organisation.

Both have now been changed. The thinktank now just calls itself the IFT, with no indication of what the initials stand for. Hannan’s Twitter profile says he is “president of @IFTtweets”, using the organisation’s own Twitter address.

Hannan is a vocal advocate of both Brexit and unfettered global free trade. He has called for the UK to mimic the low tax, low regulation model of Singapore after Brexit, albeit without the state-built flats in which 80% of Singaporeans live.

The thinktank is officially registered as the Initiative for International Trade Ltd, which does not need to be changed. Companies House told the Observer, which first reported on the investigation, that it was aware of the IFT’s use of the term and would be contacting it.

“It is an offence to use a sensitive word set out in regulations in a business name without the prior approval of the secretary of state,” a spokeswoman said. “The offence is committed by the company and every officer of the company. The person(s) guilty of an offence is liable to a fine.”



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Foreign secretary Boris Johnson attended the launch of the Institute for Free Trade. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

A spokeswoman for the IFT told the Observer: “Established as a not-for-profit earlier in the year, the IFT now has a registered office and permanent staff, and is taking advice from Companies House regarding the trading name of IFT.”



Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, a supporter of the Open Britain group, said: “The comedy of errors that is Brexit has a new clown. Daniel Hannan is regarded by some as the intellectual powerhouse of Euroscepticism, yet after attempting to masquerade as the president of a respected policy institute he has now fallen flat on his face.

“Along with Boris Johnson and all those involved in the Institute for Free Trade, he has very serious questions to answer. Only months ago, the foreign secretary launched the organisation at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, prompting controversy about a potential breach of the ministerial code. We need to know the details of that launch, and why these people thought they could use the word ‘institute’ without permission.

“There cannot be one set of rules for ministers and those closest to them, and another for everybody else. Sadly, this kind of incompetence and double standards are characteristic of the fanatical hard Brexit strain in British politics. It is hard to see how Mr Hannan’s tinpot thinktank could ever be taken remotely seriously again.”