Bright Blue, the “Liberal-Conservative” group that called for more immigration, is funded by the left-wing Joseph Rowntree Foundation Breitbart London can reveal. On Sunday Bright Blue demanded David Cameron abolish migration targets as they “appease a minority of voters who are attracted to UKIP’s prominent position on immigration”.
The group also published a “Modernisers’ Manifesto” last year that was funded through a £5k donation from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Limited (JRRT). The company was established in honour of the former Liberal MP and Quaker of the same name. Its stated aim is to fund “political campaigns in the UK to promote democratic reform, civil liberties and social justice.”
Bright Blue invited The Guardian journalist Ian Birrell to the launch of the Modernisers’ Manifesto in the House of Commons. Mr Birrell used to platform to call for a loosening of Visa requirements, he cited the increasing sales of Champagne on the continent as his justification.
On its website JRRT say their values are to “rooted in liberalism and Quakerism.” It says it stands for the “equal worth of every person” along with the “defence of liberty” and opposition to “all forms of oppression, be that political, religious, economic or social.”
JRRT has funded a number of causes including Migration Matters, the group that campaigns “for a more positive view of immigration”. It has also given money to a number of Liberal Democrat MPs including Dr Julian Huppert, who represented Cambridge until Parliament was dissolved and is restanding.
Huppert opposed the coalition when they pushed through the benefits cap, he also supporting keeping the spare room subsidy. He is also chairman of the All Party Parliamentary group from Refugees, once again campaigning for more immigration into the UK. A view that Bright Blue also advocated in its Immigration Manifesto.
Tom Hunt from the Parliament Street think tank told Breitbart London: “It concerns me that a think tank supposedly supportive of the Conservative Party and its attempt to win next May has chosen the middle of an election campaign to start publishing a number of views that are out of keeping with the views and sentiments of the vast majority of Conservatives.
“Their President called for all-women shortlists one week, then the group called for a scrap the net migration target the next. It now appears that this think tank is being funded by the same source as the Liberal Democrat Party, says it all.”
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