Jolyon Maugham, a QC who has campaigned to reverse Brexit, called on the regulator to review the Legatum institute’s charitable designation

Britain’s charity watchdog has launched an inquiry into the work of a think tank with close links to leading Conservative Brexiteers.

Over the past year the Legatum institute’s economics director, Shanker Singham, has held at least seven meetings with ministers and officials at the Department for Exiting the EU. This included attending a summit at Chevening, the Kent country house used by Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and Liam Fox, the international trade secretary. Crawford Falconer, a member of Legatum’s “special trade commission”, set up after Britain voted to leave the EU, was later made the government’s chief trade negotiator.

Whitehall figures say the charity has great influence among Brexiteer ministers and is making the case that Britain can thrive