The controversial think tank which played a key role in the secret Brexit letter written by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson is being probed by Britain’s charity watchdog.

The inquiry into the Legatum Institute by the Charity Commission follows an investigation by The Mail on Sunday which revealed the organisation’s secret role in pushing the Government towards a ‘hard Brexit’ withdrawal from the EU.

The commission is examining whether the institute’s trustees are ‘actively protecting and promoting the charity’s independence’ and whether its close links to Tory Brexiteers render it in breach of its duty to focus on ‘the advancement of education for the public benefit’.

Over the past year, Legatum Institute economics director Shanker Singham has held a series of private meetings with Brexit Ministers and officials, including a summit at Chevening, the Kent grace and favour country house used by Boris Johnson and David Davis.

The controversial think tank which played a key role in the secret Brexit letter written by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson is being probed by Britain’s charity watchdog

The commission is examining whether the institute’s trustees are ‘actively protecting and promoting the charity’s independence’ and whether its close links to Tory Brexiteers render it in breach of its duty to focus on ‘the advancement of education for the public benefit’

Many of Mr Singham’s ideas, including scrapping EU regulations and finding extra money for a ‘no deal’ Brexit, were included in a letter he secretly co-authored with Johnson and Gove, which was sent to Theresa May in October – and then leaked to the MoS.

This newspaper also disclosed how Christopher Chandler – the Monaco-based tycoon who established the institute – had helped to build his fortune through the ‘disaster capitalism’ of post-Soviet Russia.

His allies cut deals with President Vladimir Putin’s associates. When we approached the institute last week about Mr Chandler, who ploughed his fortune into the Dubai-based Legatum Group investment firm, a spokesman tried to distance Mr Chandler from it. The institute was ‘an independent, public charity’ he said and was ‘not part of the Legatum Group’.

Furthermore, ‘Christopher Chandler was not involved in running any of the [institute’s] operations or programmes’.

But on Tuesday Mr Chandler was photographed emerging from the institute’s Mayfair HQ – in the week it was holding a board meeting – next to institute chairman Alan McCormick, who doubles as managing director of the Legatum Group.

The following evening, Mr Chandler attended a reception held by the institute at Tate Britain, again with Mr McCormick. Mr Chandler mingled with guests including leading Tory Brexit MPs Bernard Jenkin and Owen Paterson.

This week Christopher Chandler was photographed emerging from the Legatum Institute’s Mayfair HQ - despite claims he was 'not involved' with the institute

Legatum Institute economics director Shanker Singham was pictured leaving the Mayfair HQ 45 minutes after Mr Chandler

This newspaper has also established new details of a Brexit row that split the institute after chief executive Philippa Stroud, a former aide to one-time Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, was appointed chief executive following the EU referendum last year.

Up to half its 20-strong staff were reportedly fired or resigned in a Brexit ‘purge’, paving the way for it to be turned into what one insider called ‘the hidden intellectual driving force behind the Government’s Brexit plans’. The rift led to distinguished pro-EU economist and journalist Anne Applebaum quitting the institute after a row with Ms Stroud.

A friend of Ms Applebaum said: ‘As soon as Philippa arrived, it was clear she was blindly committed to a hard Brexit and wanted to concentrate on that and nothing else.

‘She believes it will bring glory to Britain and does not want to listen to any dissenting voices.

‘Anne said the institute is supposed to be about ideas. Philippa got very cross and said, “Ministers don’t want ideas, they want policies.” ’

The friend added: ‘After the referendum, Michael Gove and Boris Johnson were desperate. They realised they had no idea of the practicalities involved in leaving the EU.

The Mail on Sunday had previously revealed Gove and Johnson's letter to No 10

‘Legatum offered to do it for them but has nothing like the expertise it claims to have and now has its own strong ideology. They believe everything Shanker Singham tells them but he is not as experienced as they think in negotiating trade deals.’

To replace departed staff, Stroud recruited several prominent fellow ‘hard Brexit’ supporters, including Matthew Elliott, former chief executive of Vote Leave, and businessman Toby Baxendale, who ran hard-line Eurosceptic Andrea Leadsom’s Tory leadership campaign.

Ms Applebaum is an expert on meddling in the West by Russia and Vladimir Putin. But friends stress Mr Chandler’s background in Russian business had nothing to do with her departure.

Other recruits had previously worked for Ms Stroud’s Centre For Social Justice, a Right-of-centre anti-poverty campaign group set up by Iain Duncan Smith, which has strong support from evangelical Christians.

A well-placed source said that some institute employees were ‘uncomfortable’ about working for Ms Stroud because of her involvement in a gay rights controversy in 2010. Ms Stroud, as head of the Centre for Social Justice, was revealed to have once founded a church that tried to ‘cure’ homosexuals by driving out their ‘demons’ through prayer.

The Charity Commission said last night that it would ask the institute to give ‘assurances that they continue to comply with guidance on the advancement of education for the public benefit and are actively protecting and promoting the charity’s independence’.

Charities are allowed by law to undertake political activity in support of their charitable aims but they are not allowed to pursue such aims solely through political activities.

A Legatum Institute spokesman said: ‘The institute was always conceived as a convening location. It has 5,000 visitors a year and this week it was teeming with people from around the world preparing for the [Tate Britain] event, so it was natural that Mr Chandler spent time catching up with staff at the institute.

‘To our knowledge, no one left the Legatum Institute due to our research on how to make the best of the people’s decision regarding Brexit. The Legatum Institute is apolitical. There was no “putsch” by the Brexiteers.’

The spokesman denied that any concerns about Ms Stroud’s religious beliefs had been raised with her.



