The European Research Group is one of the most powerful forces in British politics – and also one of the most secretive. The cadre of pro-Brexit Tory MPs, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, refuses to even say who its members are.
But now documents produced by the ERG and given to Parliament’s standards watchdog will be made public for the first time. The move follows a ruling by a judicial body in response to a long-running openDemocracy investigation.
The ERG played a pivotal role in forcing Theresa May from Number 10 and is now widely seen as backing Boris Johnson. It has received hundreds of thousands of pounds in public funds for its work. Many of its papers are for internal consumption but previous public ERG reports have been branded “dreamland stuff”.
