The Charity Commission is investigating the anti public services taxpayers Alliance which is linked to the Conservative Party.
This follows revelations in the Guardian that the high profile lobby group may have used its charitable arm to secure tax relief, normally reserved for good causes, on donations for political research. The charity, which used to be known as the Taxpayers' Alliance Research Trust, made 29 grants totalling £278,520 in 2008
John Prescott, the former deputy prime minister, said that the announcement showed the Taxpayers' Alliance was "exploiting the taxpayer rather than protecting their interests as they claim to do".
The charity's trustees include leading Dodgers’ backer, Patrick Barbour, the founder of Reform, the foremost free-market advocates of public service cuts.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/dec/29/taxpayers-alliance-tax-scrutiny
