Thursday, October 13, 2011
A trust set up by Liam Fox to help Sri Lanka’s development appears to have achieved nothing other than to pay for the MP’s trips to the country, one of his allies has told the British Financial Times.
The defence secretary on Monday told the Commons he had worked with people in “business, banking and politics” to create the trust as a “mechanism” to allow reconstruction funding through the private sector.
According to Lord Bell, an ally of the MP, the trust consists of two funds, the “Sri Lanka Infrastructure Development Fund” and the “Sri Lanka Charitable Fund”.
Last year a memorandum of understanding was struck between the Sri Lankan government and the two funds to carry out future work together.
Yet neither fund is up and running, according to Lord Bell, whose lobbying firm Bell Pottinger represented the Sri Lankan government until last December.
He said the two funds were linked to the Sri Lanka Development Trust, which is not registered as a charity or a company in the UK. It remains unclear who works for it, how it is funded or what it does.
“I’m not aware that any activity exists yet or that anybody has invested any money in it,” said Lord Bell. There have been discussions with the Sri Lankan government and the governor of the central bank in the country, he added.
Yet the trust paid for at least three return trips between London and Colombo – worth about £7,500 – for Dr Fox while he was in opposition in 2008 and 2009.
Emma Reynolds, a Labour MP, said it was “odd” that the Sri Lanka Development Trust “doesn’t seem to be doing any development in Sri Lanka”: “Dr Fox needs to explain exactly what this trust is, who is behind it, where its money comes from and where the money goes.”
The trust’s current address is an office in Edinburgh but it was previously located at 40 George Street in London’s West End. This is also the headquarters of an investigative company, G3 – or Good Governance Group – which offers services such as “business intelligence”.
G3 is chaired by Chester Crocker, a former US politician under Ronald Reagan, who sits on the US board of Bell Pottinger Communications. He refused to comment. But an ally of Mr Crocker said he had no involvement with Sri Lanka and had never heard of the trust.
Lord Bell said the infrastructure fund was designed to invest in roads and other infrastructure projects in northern Sri Lanka. The second fund would direct money into “things of a charitable nature”. Neither fund is registered with the UK Charity Commission.
Mr Fox’s aide said he could not answer questions about the trust or funds – nor suggest an alternative spokesman. “You need to ask them,” he said. “I don’t speak for them.”
Lord Bell did not know how the Sri Lanka Development Trust paid for Dr Fox’s flights without other visible activities. “I do not know an answer to your question. I can understand why you are asking,” he said. (www.ft.com)
