The European Research Group (ERG) encouraged its members to wrong-foot the prime minister and senior ministers on everything from control of migration to trade deals and EU laws in briefings obtained after a court battle.

European Research Group UK Politics Organisation which drove UK to a hard Brexit made up of ‘climate change deniers’ and ‘Trump sympathisers’, new book is told However the ERG seem to have taken on that role, operating not within the Conservative Party, but as a different, separate, anti-Europe party. The Ferret is published by The Ferret Media Ltd, Registered Society, RS0040088. Details of the ERG’s inner workings were revealed after openDemocracy fought a successful legal battle with the spending watchdog, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).. Momentum, which claims more than 31,000 members, is hardly ever out of the news. Other analysis from the ERG states: “There are great new opportunities for UK trade outside of the EU,” and “The WTO provides a framework to allow trade to continue preventing a ‘cliff edge’”. Last year the Charity Commission ruled that Legatum’s work on Brexit “failed to meet the required standard of balance and neutrality”. ERG MPs are given lists of the government’s “false claims” that should be deployed in debates on immigration. The ERG’s work, claimed as part of MPs’ pooled resources, is supposed to be research that is politically neutral, essentially not for party political purposes. The government was frequently accused of failing to “address the positives” and “distorting statistics”. It is believed that between sixty and eighty Tory MPs are, or have been, ERG members. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Pipeline & Service Contractors write about next and vote up the best ideas. Are the Brexiteers about to be kicked out of Boris Johnson’s cabinet? MPs attending debates were furnished with ERG “notes” questioning government facts which are described variously as “selective statistic picking” and “old rogue statistics”. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) Alberto Pezzali, LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 31: Pro-EU activists protest at Parliament Square as people prepare for Brexit on January 31, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. It was a disaster.”. It states: “The first thing to note is that these measures [in Cameron’s deal] will not reduce migration – a serious flaw.”, Think tank adviser had unminuted meetings with Brexit policymakers. Organisation which drove UK to a hard Brexit made up of ‘climate change deniers’ and ‘Trump sympathisers’, new book is told. Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake said: “Anyone who still believes that the ERG is little more than an innocent organisation providing briefings is delusional. The instructed response states: “The WTO confers rights on the UK as we leave the EU such that, if the EU operates in ways that damage our trade, we can bring cases against it.”. At 11.00pm on Friday 31st January the UK and Northern Ireland will exit the European Union 188 weeks after the referendum on June 23rd 2016. Brexit briefing: How long until the end of the transition period? He described the group as becoming “Singapore on steroids” – advocating a low-tax, regulation-lite society – as well as being populated by “climate change deniers” relaxed about Donald Trump. The ERG, previously headed by former Brexit ministers Steve Baker and Suella Braverman, keeps its ‘research’ private and refuses to publish names of its members. Are there the numbers in the Commons to pass a Brexit deal? But trade experts who reviewed the material dismissed the ERG’s output as “superficial and selective” and “highly partisan”. In one paper, called ‘Brexit and the Queen’s Speech’, ERG MPs are told that whenever World Trade Organization rules are mentioned, they should refer to an answer compiled by the Legatum Institute, a pro-Brexit think tank. The ERG has been instrumental in forcing Boris Johnson to push for a no deal Brexit. There is no grey area: all is either EU bad or UK good. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. “None of the output reaches the level of analysis or research of any research report I’ve seen from an academic, NGO or think tank,” Peers added. At 11.00pm on Friday 31st January the UK and Northern Ireland exits the European Union, 188 weeks after the referendum on June 23rd, 2016. Tory minister accuses Brexiteers in his own party of 'treachery', May suffers embarrassing defeat as Tories rebel over no-deal Brexit, Corbyn suffers revolt as 41 Labour MPs back 'immediate' Brexit delay, May faces defeat in Commons vote after refusing Brexiteer demands, May dismisses her negotiator saying 'long delay' to Brexit planned, May risks fresh clash by 'not proposing' to replace Irish backstop, Tory truce shattered as May says ‘no suggestion’ of scrapping backstop, Tory Brexit truce crumbles as Theresa May accused of ‘stupid mistake’, Don't relax now, Theresa May – your Brexit allies are for turning, Brexit ‘plan C’ emerges after Rees-Mogg unites with Tory Remainers, May in fresh crisis after anti-EU Tories reject her Brexit ‘plan B’, Tory Eurosceptics are playing games with Theresa May's Brexit deal, Everything you need to know about the vote of no confidence, Corbyn quizzed over no-confidence motion that won't trigger election, Crunch vote on May's deal Brexit definitely not before Christmas, Tory civil war deepens as Raab puts pressure on May to quit, May wins vote of confidence from Tory MPs, thwarting Brexiteer rebels, May to face no-confidence vote tonight, Tories announce, May's plan to get her Brexit deal through revealed by Leadsom, Anger as May refuses to set new date for MPs' vote on her Brexit deal, Theresa May’s Brexit coup woes aren’t quite over thanks to the DUP, DUP expected to abstain again on crucial Budget votes, Rees-Mogg admits Brexiteer coup attempt against May has stalled, Pro-Brexit Tories struggling to gather support for May challenge, May set to be forced to reveal secret legal advice on Irish backstop, Extra 20% off Sale when you shop in the ASOS app, 5% off Travelodge discount when you sign up for the newsletter, Save 30% on the original hybrid mattress at Eve Sleep, Pizza promo: 40% off at selected restaurants and takeaways near you with Just Eat, Extra 15% off dresses and shoes with our boohoo discount code, Take up to 30% off sitewide orders by using this Groupon discount code, Charlotte Tilbury discount: up to 22% off makeup & skincare. But the same talking point is currently being cited by Boris Johnson as a route to take in a no deal Brexit. - Britain on January 31 ends almost half a century of integration with its closest neighbours and leaves the European Union, starting a new -- but still uncertain -- chapter in its long history. The European Research Group received hundreds of thousands of pounds in taxpayers’ money over the last four years. Conservative MPs who are not involved in the ERG said that the group operates as a party within a party and that taxpayers’ money should be returned. This week MPs allied to the European Research Group (ERG), chaired by Jacob Rees-Mogg, have been parading around Westminster in what they imagine to be intellectual finery. “Any prime minister who panders to them isn’t fit to hold office.”, From the 2016 ERG files examined by IPSA there is a warning on the deal David Cameron made with Brussels ahead of the referendum. Organisation which drove UK to a hard Brexit made up of ‘climate change deniers’ and ‘Trump sympathisers’, new book is told, They were ‘voted for by the House of Commons, including yourself, as part of the withdrawal agreement ratification’, negotiator says.