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Woman behind Corbyn legal fundraiser failed to mention role in administering £330k in donations
EXCLUSIVE: Carole Morgan left out fact of involvement in company that aims to 'end the politicisation of Jewish suffering'
August 11, 2020 09:35
EXCLUSIVE: Carole Morgan left out fact of involvement in company that aims to 'end the politicisation of Jewish suffering'
August 11, 2020 09:35The organiser of crowdfunding project that has raised over £330, 000 to defend Jeremy Corbyn against possible legal action has failed to mention her link to a newly formed company set up to administer the funds.
Companies House records show that Carole Morgan – who launched ‘Jeremy’s Legal Fund’ last month - founded Truth Defence Ltd just one week later with a leading supporter of the Jewish Voice For Labour group to “end the politicisation of Jewish suffering”.
But last week she neglected to mention her link to the company when she wrote to donors to tell them she had “been in touch with the organisers" of Truth Defence “to maintain our connection moving forwards in the future”.
Ms Morgan had launched her appeal on the Go Fund Me website on July 22 after the BBC journalist John Ware said he was considering suing the former Labour leader for libel in relation to comments he made about the party’s decision to settle a case over a Panorama expose of antisemitism.
She was inundated with donations from supporters of Mr Corbyn, some of who openly attacked Mr Ware and others who claimed the antisemitism issue amounted to smears against the former Labour leader.
In a message to donors on August 3, Ms Morgan wrote: “I wanted to find a way that we could maintain our connection to one another moving forward into the future.
“To that aim, I have been in touch with the organisers of an initiative called Truth Defence which started around the same time as the crowdfund, and clearly shares our aims and hopes for a better world: www.truthdefence.org.
“It is dedicated to promoting a culture of honesty and integrity in politics and public life, which is exactly the principles that Jeremy stands for.
“Please join as a registered supporter under this link https://www.truthdefence.org/join or send an email to truth.defence2020@gmail.com if you want to sign up to be part of our network for free.”
The message added: “In the meantime, all funds raised by us to support Jeremy in a potential legal defence will be held in trust for that purpose, and details of that will be announced soon.”
According to Companies House records, filed on July 29, Truth Defence Ltd was set up by company director Andrew Feinstein. The other stated Person with Significant Control (PSC) is Carol Eve Morgan, by virtue of her owning more than 25% but not more than 50% of voting rights, and having rights to appoint and remove a majority of the directors of the company.
A statement on the Truth Defence Facebook page also confirmed that the aim of the organisation “is seeking to correct the historical record on Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party and end the politicisation of Jewish suffering”.
On August 4 another message on the group’s Facebook page appeared to suggest Ms Morgan had just “endorsed and joined” the organisation.
It stated: "Very honoured to be endorsed and joined by Carole Morgan, whose remarkable crowdfund success is a reminder of just what can be achieved through solidarity, compassion and hope."
Truth Defence’s Mr Feinstein is a South African born film-maker and former politician and an outspoken member of the pro-Corbyn JVL group.
In June 2019, The Times reported how Mr Feinstein shared a story on Twitter about his Holocaust background and appeared to suggest that this qualified him to reject the argument that Mr Corbyn was an antisemite. His family Shoah story then appeared, cut and pasted, in Twitter messages from other activists defending Mr Corbyn.
The Companies House records also set out special conditions for Truth Defence as the nominated beneficiary for the money raised to support Mr Corbyn.
It is confirmed that "the express object of the crowd fund ... is to support a potential legal defence by Jeremy Corbyn against the defamation proceedings brought by John Ware based on a statement made on Mr Corbyn's Facebook page on July 22 - and Mr Ware’s subsequent statements of his intention to pursue such a legal action against Mr Corbyn."
It adds that all money from the crowd fund should be ringfenced until court proceedings are launched or the statutory time period for them to do so has expired.
If court proceedings are launched, the money should be "transferred to a firm of solicitors as per Mr Corbyn's instruction, to be held in a trust and on the assurance that any unused funds at the conclusion of proceedings will be returned to the Company."
Once any legal action is over it is confirmed that Truth Defence can propose "an alternative use of funds that is closely related in purpose and nature" to the legal defence of any action brought by Mr Ware against Mr Corbyn. But all donors must be given "reasonable opportunity" to get the money they have donated back.
The Truth Defence website also states that the company's advisory board includes Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC and Mr Feinstein himself.
The Companies House documents also reveal Truth Defence Ltd’s future objectives. It states that the organisation aims to "challenge and resist the use of civil litigation, confront the spread of disinformation both online and the mainstream press" and to "expose the suppression of evidence or accurate information in the public interest."
There are also plans to employ staff, consultants and advisers, carry out research and analysis and undertake media, film and publishing projects.
After Jeremy’s Legal Fund was launched on July 22, Ms Morgan was forced to hide messages left by donors after some contained an antisemitic tone.
Mr Corbyn’s Islington North office has said the fund was launched in good faith.
The JC has contacted Ms Morgan to explain why she failed to mention her involvement in the formation of Truth Defence Ltd.
But she failed to respond to our requests for her to comment.
