Westminster Accounts: Baroness Cox forced to declare financial interests after leak reveals links to anti-Islam activists

Published

2 years ago

February 25, 2023

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A controversial member of the House of Lords has been forced to declare financial interests following a huge leak of documents that also revealed her links to prominent anti-Islam activists.

Baroness Cox said her failure to register support from the not-for-profit company Equal and Free Limited – which was used to pay for her parliamentary researcher – was an “oversight”.

The crossbench peer also failed to declare that she was an unpaid director of the company.

Minutes of meetings obtained by the anti-racism campaign group Hope not Hate and shared with Sky News reveal that Equal and Free Limited has received funding from an American organisation run by two evangelical philanthropists.

Based in Los Angeles, Fieldstead and Company handles the donations of Howard Ahmanson Jr and his wife Roberta Ahmanson, and focuses support on “religious liberty issues” as well as art, culture and humanitarian relief work.

In a 2011 interview with Christianity Today, Mrs Ahmanson said: “We are probably the single largest supporter of the intelligent design movement, and have been since the beginning.”

Intelligent design argues that aspects of life are best explained by the involvement of a higher being rather than evolution.

The couple has also been linked to orthodox Christian groups and political campaigns against same-sex marriage.

While parliamentary rules require peers to disclose support received from outside organisations, they are not required to detail where funding originated from initially.

‘Oversight’ corrected quickly

Jess Garland, head of policy at the Electoral Reform Society – which campaigns for an elected House of Lords – says the structure of the chamber can work against good transparency.

“They are encouraged to have outside interests and outside expertise, but this creates a real grey area when it comes to lobbying – who’s funding these interests and where’s the money coming from?” said Ms Garland.

Baroness Cox says she corrected her register of interests as soon as the “oversight” was brought to her attention.

A spokesman for the House of Lords said there was a “robust code of conduct” but this had “no locus over how companies or other organisations providing financial or research support to members generate their income”.

Fieldstead and Company has been approached for comment and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on its part.

Among the documents leaked to Hope not Hate are minutes of regular meetings that have been convened by Baroness Cox on the parliamentary estate and attended by prominent and often controversial critics of Islam.

The documents show that non-affiliated peer Lord Pearson was also present at many of the meetings, which began in 2013 under the name “The New Issues Group” and have continued to take place in 2023.

Baroness Cox and Lord Pearson provoked controversy in 2010 when they brought the far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders to the UK.

Controversial meetings

Minutes for a 2015 meeting show a memo written by UKIP activist and group member Magnus Nielsen that describes Islam as having “hostile intentions to everyone who is not Muslim”.

The minutes go on to state that the West is in an “at present… ideological war” with Islam and predicts a “bloody mess” in the future.

Minutes from November 2013 state that one meeting attendee – the activist Anne Marie Waters – was asked if she would help draft a parliamentary question for Baroness Cox regarding a film about free speech.

Waters went on to set up Sharia Watch UK, a group that in 2015 tried to stage a “Muhammad cartoons” exhibition in London, and was later involved in anti-Islam Pegida UK alongside English Defence League (EDL) founder Tommy Robinson.

The documents also show that another group member, Alan Craig, was taken to a meeting with a government minister by Baroness Cox.

Mr Craig provoked controversy in 2018 after claiming in a UKIP conference speech that a “holocaust of our children” was being orchestrated by groups of men from Muslim backgrounds.

The leaked documents state that Equal and Free Limited was set up as a “channel” behind a private member’s bill put forward by Baroness Cox that is focused on equality in Muslim arbitration tribunals.

Baroness Cox told Sky News the New Issues Group “is a meeting of people who support the aims” of her private member’s bill, which would “provide protection for Muslim women whose sharia marriages are not legally registered”.

The peer added that she has “strong support from Muslim women, including the Muslim Women’s Advisory Group”.

Nick Lowles, chief executive of Hope not Hate – the organisation that obtained the documents – said they appear to show the group is not just concerned about radical and political Islam.

“This group views Islam per se as a danger to the West. They view Islam as in conflict with Western culture and Western civilisation,” said Mr Lowles.

Why it is important for the public to know what is going on behind the scenes

The Sky News Westminster Accounts tool revealed companies donating to MPs with little clarity about their owners or the original source of the funding.

This leak of documents has flagged a similar potential issue in the Lords.

Peers don’t get the same allowances as MPs for their office setup so it’s not unusual for researchers to earn money from external sources.

The question is about transparency.

Members of the Lords have access to parliament, government ministers and an influence on policy and lawmaking.

They also get public funding and – crucially for those in favour of reform – voters can’t get rid of them if they disapprove of what they’ve been doing.

All of this makes it important for the public to know what is going on behind the scenes.

Complaints may now be put into the Lords Commissioner for Standards over Baroness Cox’s failure to make appropriate financial declarations in the past.

But political sources in the Lords also suggest there could be propriety concerns about the peer inviting such controversial anti-Islam figures into parliament.

Questions about US funding

Minutes from a meeting attended by Baroness Cox in 2014 state that “money has come in from USA mainly to pay for Muslim women coming to give evidence… $40,000 from Fieldstead & Company; and £8,000 has been promised from another source”.

The organisation has been reported to have links to a 2008 campaign in California to ban same-sex marriage and the American Anglican Council – an orthodox Christian group.

Its founder Howard Ahmanson Jr is the son of the late multi-millionaire and businessman Howard Ahmanson Sr.

He sits on the board of the Discovery Institute, a Seattle organisation that promotes intelligent design and critiques Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Roberta Ahmanson is heavily involved with Fieldstead and Company. On the organisation’s website, she describes herself as a “writer and explorer focused on discovering the nature of reality, the role of religion, and the meaning of history and the arts”.

The California-based organisation has also funded numerous cultural causes including the National Gallery in London.

A recently published document sent to Sky News by Baroness Cox states that Equal and Free “remain sincerely grateful for Fieldstead and Company’s support”.

The peer declined to clarify how much money her firm has received from the Los Angeles organisation. However, parliamentary records show that Equal and Free began funding a House of Lords researcher in 2014.

Two other members of the Lords are also known to have contributed funding to Equal and Free Limited.

World

‘Nobody likes Trump’: Sky News finds defiance on the streets of Tehran

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4 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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'Nobody likes Trump': Sky News finds defiance on the streets of Tehran

To the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, they march, whipping their backs with metal flails.

It is an ancient ceremony going back almost 14 centuries – the Shia commemoration of Ashura.

But this year in particular has poignant significance for Iranians.

The devout remember the betrayal and death of the Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday.

We filmed men and women weep as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.

The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed by the armies of the Caliph Yazid in the seventh century Battle of Karbala.

Shia Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates – of resistance against oppression and injustice. But more so than ever this year, in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.

The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here by people and officials.

Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.

Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America, which it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.

“Death to Israel” chants resounded outside the mosque in skies that for 12 days were filled with the sounds of Israeli jets.

There is a renewed sense of defiance here.

One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression, even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”

A woman was dismissive about the US president.

“I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”

Pictures on billboards nearby link Imam Hussein’s story and current events. They show the seventh century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.

Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.

Officially Iran is projecting defiance, but not closing the door to diplomacy.

Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.

“We are very strong in defence, and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times. We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”

But there is also a hint of conciliation. Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.

Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. Those hopes proved unfounded. The government is in control here.

For many Iranians it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.

World

Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says

Published

7 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says

Two American security workers in Gaza were injured after grenades were thrown during food distribution in Khan Younis, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said.

In a statement, the US and Israeli-backed aid group said a targeted terrorist attack was carried out at one of its sites in southern Gaza on Saturday morning.

The two Americans injured “are receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition,” it said, adding that the delivery of aid was “otherwise successful” and that “no local aid workers or civilians were harmed”.

GHF didn’t say exactly when the incident happened but claimed Hamas was behind the attack, adding: “GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers, and the civilians who rely on our sites for food.

“Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings.”

Later, the aid group posted a picture on social media, which it said showed “fragments of a grenade packed with ball bearings” that was used in the attack.

Asked by Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, whether the two injured individuals were responsible for handing out aid or were responsible for providing security, GHF said they were “American security workers” and “two American veterans.”

The aid group did not provide specific evidence that Hamas was behind the attack.

The US and Israeli-backed group has been primarily responsible for aid distribution since Israel lifted its 11-week blockade of the Gaza Strip in May.

It comes after Sky News analysis showed GHF aid distributions are associated with a significant increase in deaths in Gaza.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid from GHF sites as of 3 July, which charities and the UN have branded “death traps”.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Israeli-backed American contractors guarding GHF aid centres in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades.

GHF has vehemently denied the accusations, adding that it investigated AP’s allegations and found them to be “categorically false”.

Israel’s military added that it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm.

It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centres.

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Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal but asks for amendments

Published

13 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Hamas gives 'positive' response to ceasefire proposal but asks for amendments

Hamas has said it has “submitted its positive response” to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza to mediators.

The proposal for a 60-day ceasefire was presented by US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing hard for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to visit the White House next week to discuss a deal.

Mr Trump said Israel had agreed to his proposed ceasefire terms, and he urged Hamas to accept the deal as well.

Hamas’ “positive” response to the proposal had slightly different wording on three issues around humanitarian aid, the status of the Israeli Defence Forces inside Gaza and the language around guarantees beyond the 60-day ceasefire, a source with knowledge of the negotiations revealed.

But the source told Sky News: “Things are looking good.”

Hamas said it is “fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework” without elaborating on what needed to be worked out in the proposal’s implementation.

The US said during the ceasefire it would “work with all parties to end the war”.

A Hamas official said on condition of anonymity that the truce could start as early as next week.

But he added that talks were needed first to establish how many Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for each freed Israeli hostage and to specify the amount of humanitarian aid that will be allowed to enter Gaza during the ceasefire.

He said negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in return for the release of the remaining hostages would start on the first day of the truce.

Hamas has been seeking guarantees that the 60-day ceasefire would lead to a total end to the nearly 21-month-old war, which caused previous rounds of negotiations to fail as Mr Netanyahu has insisted that Israel would continue fighting in Gaza to ensure the destruction of Hamas.

The Hamas official said that Mr Trump has guaranteed that the ceasefire will extend beyond 60 days if necessary to reach a peace deal, but there is no confirmation from the US of such a guarantee.

Speaking to journalists on Air Force One, Mr Trump welcomed Hamas’s “positive spirit” to the proposal, adding that there could be a ceasefire deal by next week.

Hamas also said it wants more aid to flow through the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies, which comes as the UN human rights officer said it recorded 613 Palestinians killed in Gaza within a month while trying to obtain aid.

Most of them were said to have been killed while trying to reach food distribution points by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

The spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, said the agency was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings, but added that “it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by GHF.

Ms Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were “GHF-related”, meaning at or near its distribution sites.

The GHF accused the UN of taking its casualty figures “directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry” and of trying “to falsely smear our effort”, which echoed statements to Sky News by the executive director of GHF, Johnnie Moore.

Mr Moore called the UN figures a “disinformation campaign” that is “meant to shut down our efforts” in the Gaza Strip.