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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/11/shahmir-sanni-brexit-taxpayers-alliance-fight-for-truth
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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| The Taxpayers’ Alliance smeared me, but I continue to fight for the truth | The Taxpayers’ Alliance smeared me, but I continue to fight for the truth |
| (14 days later) | |
| I have been vindicated. Once again. In July, the Electoral Commission confirmed the truth of my story and found Vote Leave guilty of breaking the law. And now, the TaxPayers’ Alliance has effectively admitted that it broke the law by firing me, smearing me and attempting to silence me. | I have been vindicated. Once again. In July, the Electoral Commission confirmed the truth of my story and found Vote Leave guilty of breaking the law. And now, the TaxPayers’ Alliance has effectively admitted that it broke the law by firing me, smearing me and attempting to silence me. |
| TaxPayers’ Alliance concedes it launched smears against Brexit whistleblower | |
| Britain knows now that institutions like the TaxPayers’ Alliance are playing a dirty game. A game that in this case, meant committing multiple unlawful acts. But this goes much deeper than that. It goes to the heart of the British establishment and exposes a covert relationship that operates between the government, these “thinktanks” and the media. | Britain knows now that institutions like the TaxPayers’ Alliance are playing a dirty game. A game that in this case, meant committing multiple unlawful acts. But this goes much deeper than that. It goes to the heart of the British establishment and exposes a covert relationship that operates between the government, these “thinktanks” and the media. |
| In not contesting my claim, the TPA has admitted that it is part of a network of rightwing thinktanks – including the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Adam Smith Institute, BrexitCentral and others – that have the ears of cabinet ministers and MPs. It is a network that attempted to stop my evidence becoming public, and that used the media to try and discredit me. | In not contesting my claim, the TPA has admitted that it is part of a network of rightwing thinktanks – including the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Adam Smith Institute, BrexitCentral and others – that have the ears of cabinet ministers and MPs. It is a network that attempted to stop my evidence becoming public, and that used the media to try and discredit me. |
| This cannot go on. Broadcasters and journalists cannot continue to provide a platform to this network of organisations that have so obviously tried to cover up unlawful activity. And they can no longer get away with hiding the true origins of their financing and influence. We need a full inquiry into how Matthew Elliott, head of Vote Leave and founder of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, undermined the findings of the Electoral Commission by leaking its report, and was then provided with a platform by the media to call me a “fantasist” and a “liar” as part of a campaign of vilification. | This cannot go on. Broadcasters and journalists cannot continue to provide a platform to this network of organisations that have so obviously tried to cover up unlawful activity. And they can no longer get away with hiding the true origins of their financing and influence. We need a full inquiry into how Matthew Elliott, head of Vote Leave and founder of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, undermined the findings of the Electoral Commission by leaking its report, and was then provided with a platform by the media to call me a “fantasist” and a “liar” as part of a campaign of vilification. |
| Many of the employees who appear regularly on television played a part in Vote Leave’s illegal overfunding scheme. The TaxPayers’ Alliance and their friends cannot be allowed to parade on our media when they have so blatantly broken the law. This must now end. | Many of the employees who appear regularly on television played a part in Vote Leave’s illegal overfunding scheme. The TaxPayers’ Alliance and their friends cannot be allowed to parade on our media when they have so blatantly broken the law. This must now end. |
| Who funds these organisations? Whose views do they really represent? What are their relationships with ministers and government? And why are they so determined to ensure that Brexit goes through, no matter how many laws they have to break? We have a right to know. | Who funds these organisations? Whose views do they really represent? What are their relationships with ministers and government? And why are they so determined to ensure that Brexit goes through, no matter how many laws they have to break? We have a right to know. |
| • This article was amended on 13 November 2018 to clarify that Shahmir Sanni was criticised on more than one media platform. | • This article was amended on 13 November 2018 to clarify that Shahmir Sanni was criticised on more than one media platform. |
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