British Influence approaches the Union to make a stance on UKIP

A pro-European Union campaign group has opened itself up to potential charges of breaches of charity regulations by contacting Imperial Union to ask for help in its campaign “to stop UKIP becoming the biggest party” in the 2014 European elections. In an email to the Union President and the Campaigns Officer dated October 17, Joe Coney, the Campaign Director at British Influence, wrote that the group believed that “a significant UKIP win would be bad news on issues such as gender and LGBT equality and stopping climate change”. Coney went on to offer to “host a campaign training session [at Imperial] before Christmas” and asked to discuss “any ways in which the Student Union could help [British Influence] get more students to vote in the election”.

However, as a registered charity, the Union is not legally allowed to campaign on matters which are deemed to be ultra vires – that is matters which do not directly affect Imperial students. In his email, Coney wrote that while British Influence realised the “charity status means that the SU can’t campaign,” the group would like to offer to campaign for the Union and Imperial students on this issue. Replying to the email, Union President David Goldsmith wrote that while the proposal “is interesting, it is crucial that Imperial College Union, as a registered charity, remains neutral on party political issues, and although [British Influence is] not a political party, supporting [the] campaign would essentially mean the Union taking a view against a particular party”. He directed Coney to the Union’s many political societies, saying that they are “more able to campaign on political issues if it falls within their aims and objectives as a society”.

While British Influence seemed to be satisfied with this response, a disgruntled senior Union officer, who wishes to remain anonymous, has confirmed to Felix that they passed on the text of the original email to Paul Staines – a controversial right wing blogger and columnist better known by the pseudonym Guido Fawkes. Stains subsequently wrote about the issue in his regular column in the Sun on Sunday, prompting widespread criticism of British Influence on social media. Steve Crowther, the UKIP part chairman, has been reported as having requested that the Charity Commission investigate the incident. British Influence has played down allegations of impropriety, telling Staines that “this was just a clumsily worded email”. At the time of going to print the Union had not released an official statement.