The Trump administration is preparing to send $12 million in US taxpayer-funded grants to UK organisations founded by Conservative figures Jacob Rees-Mogg and Toby Young, setting up a political test for Britain’s incoming Labour government.
US government documents set out $7 million for 878, a recently incorporated group whose founding directors include Rees-Mogg and his former adviser Radomir Tylecote. The documents describe 878 as having a “unique role in the United Kingdom” as a nonpartisan organisation focused on fundamental freedoms.
A further $5 million has been set aside for Free Speech Union International, an offshoot of the Free Speech Union founded by Young. The documents cite its work “promoting free speech and countering digital overregulation across the UK, Europe, and Australia.”
Both proposed awards are listed as sole-source grants, meaning they would be made without an open competition. A State Department spokesperson said the grants would “continue to undergo the Department’s standard and rigorous vetting process by grant professionals” and that decisions remained under “active deliberation.” The spokesperson added: “Our foreign assistance programming is aligned to support our strategic priorities.”
Former US officials criticised the package, with one who reviewed the allocations calling the process “outrageous and absurd.” Another said the awards amounted to “horrible stewardship of US taxpayer money.”
Young said Free Speech Union International had expressed interest in applying for State Department funding, but had not submitted a formal application and had not been awarded a grant.
The proposed funding comes as Andy Burnham prepares to enter Downing Street on Monday. He has said he would be “very upfront” with Trump about disagreements, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this week: “I do not want the American government or institutions close to the government to interfere in German elections.”
