Here in the UK, there are many who believe that there are
those who are working behind the scenes to weaken the UK from within, while
also preparing new government structures and putting in place new leaders via quasi
secret society that doesn�t declare itself to ordinary people.
An organisation that has been the focus of such criticism is
Common Purpose (CP), a charity
that was founded in
the UK in 1989. As stated in an article by the BBC in
March 2009, �Its [CP] critics say it is a secret networking organisation at the
heart of the establishment, with a hidden agenda and influence. More
than 20,000 people -- identified as the next generation of leaders -- have
attended its courses, but if you are not one of them, you have probably never
heard of it. It is called Common Purpose and prominent supporters include BBC
business editor Robert Peston, Assistant Deputy Commissioner Cressida Dick of
the Metropolitan Police and numerous top public sector officials. It�s a
not-for-profit organisation which organises training and networking events for
high-fliers.�
In a Summary Information Return of Aims, Activities and
Achievements 2006, we learn that the Common
Purpose Charitable Trust (CPCT) in itself has minimal activity as its
activities are mainly carried out through the subsidiary charities: Common
Purpose UK and Common Purpose International, and the trading company, Civilia
Limited. The aim of the CPCT is to improve the way society works by increasing
the number of informed individuals who are actively involved in the areas where
they live and work, and by encouraging collaboration between individuals,
sectors and organisations.
The Common Purpose Charitable Trust�s objectives, they say, �are
the advancement of education for the public benefit and to educate men and
women from a broad range of geographical, political, ethnic, institutional,
social and economic backgrounds . . .� The most significant activity of the
CPCT in 2006, they say, was spending �6.4 million on the delivery of a range of
educational programmes for a diverse range of participants. We are also told
that the CPCT does not have a CEO. Julia Middleton is CEO of Common Purpose UK,
so who is running the CPCT?
A deed of covenant was entered into on 27 May 1999 whereby
the ENTIRE profits of the company, Civilia Ltd,
as computed for corporation tax purposes, have been covenanted to The Common
Purpose Charitable Trust. The company, Civilia Ltd, has taken advantage of the
exemption available within FRS8 not to disclose transactions with greater than
90 percent of the members of The Common Purpose Charitable Trust Group.
Here,
the chair of the Trustees of Common Purpose, Sir David Bell, addresses
the CP conspiracy theories. You can watch a video
by Brian Garrish, a former British Navy lt. commander, that highlights the CP
conspiracy theories. Accusations against Common Purpose include recruiting and
training leaders to work �beyond authority,� and abuse their positions by undermining
the leaders in their own organisation, exerting more control, and encouraging
others to follow in order to get things done in more efficient and effective
ways.
Neuro-Linguistic
Programming and political correctness are favoured tools of Common Purpose
so as to manipulate agreement within society on a range of issues that are then
defended from all challenge.
In the article, Mental Health and
World Citizenship, J.R. Rees, a founder of the Tavistock Institute,
writes of �learning to apply some of our understanding of individuals to the
problems of group attitudes and international tensions. No doubt psychiatrists
should be able to provide the central focus for much of the thinking that is
necessary, but they certainly cannot do it alone.�
Common Purpose has members in central and local government,
Houses of Parliament, police, military, legal profession, BBC, NHS, church,
many of Britain�s 8,500 quangos, education, social services, civil service, and
regional development agencies. This makes lodging complaints against CP
difficult because CP graduates and trainees are everywhere.
The Common
Purpose effect, we are told, is inspiring leaders around the UK and giving
them the knowledge and connections they need to improve how society works. Over
120,000 leaders have contributed to or participated in a Common Purpose
programme and this grows by at least 3,000 people each year. Common Purpose is
an international organisation with leaders of a new order being trained and
placed in key positions around the world. Common Purpose charge substantial
figures for their courses.
Matrix costs �3,950 plus VAT, a course for a high-flying leader can be as much
as �9,950 plus VAT.
The National School of Government, Public
Service Leadership First Annual Conference, includes Workshop 8, �Leading in
Partnerships and Beyond Authority� -- the facilitator is, Julia Middleton,
chief executive of Common Purpose.
The following is an excerpt from a reply to a freedom of
information request regarding Workshop 8 that can be found at
whatdotheyknow.com (WDTK). �After careful consideration, the National
School of Government has concluded that it must withhold the names and job
titles/ranks of those who signed up to attend this particular workshop, citing
the exemption detailed at section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(�personal information�). . . . no documentation is traceable for Workshop 8. I
can also confirm that the National School does not hold a syllabus or any other
learning material relating to this workshop.� To find this reply, do a search
at WDTK for �Public Service Leadership First Annual Conference� and find reply
with the same title dated 22 February 2010. I tried to include the link several
times, but it keeps going dead.
On 6 February 2002, the official website of the UK Prime Minister announced,
�Dame Rennie Fritchie re-appointed as Commissioner for Public
Appointments.�
In the following minutes
(Number: 716), dated 23 May 2002, Julia Middleton, CEO of Common
Purpose, states that she is working for Dame Rennie. This gives Julia Middleton
a great deal of influence not only as an assessor, but also to ensure that once
assessed by herself or colleagues, suitable Common Purpose graduates and/or
trainees are appointed to key leadership positions in the public sector
throughout the UK.
Parliament UK: Select Committee on Public Administration,
Minutes of Evidence. Examination of Witnesses, THURSDAY 23 MAY 2002
JULIA MIDDLETON AND AMELIA SUSSMAN
Excerpt from minutes:
Chairman: . . . could I ask you very quickly and if you could be very quick
when you answer it; because, first of all, how did they find you?
(Ms Middleton) Tapped me on the shoulder.
708. Who did?
(Ms Middleton) I cannot even remember.
709. A man?
(Ms Middleton) Somebody from the Department wrote me a letter.
710. Which Department?
(Ms Middleton) The DTI.
711. �Will you be one of our independent assessors, please?�
(Ms Middleton) Yes.
712. Okay; and what is involved?
(Ms Middleton) Sifting through the application forms, making sure that the
short-listing **** is fair and decent, and then attending the interviews,
making sure that that is fair and decent and an appointment is made
appropriately.
713. In about how many appointments a year?
(Ms Middleton) I have done two this year.
(Ms Sussman) No prior briefing.
(Ms Middleton) Dame Rennie has made some improvements to this system.
Mr Lyons
714. But neither have made assessors?
(Ms Sussman) No.
(Ms Middleton) Yes, I do think she is advertising for assessors, is she not?
(Ms Sussman) I do not know.
(Ms Middleton) But she has made some good improvements to the system; it is not
an easy one to do. And I do know that I am slightly different, because, not
being portfolio and having a full-time job, I pay the mortgage on my full-time
job salary, and, therefore, when you have to say, �No, I believe this is the
right way to do things,� the fact that my mortgage does not rely upon it makes
it much easier for me to say, �I believe this is how we should do things.�
Chairman
715. Do you feel you are working for the Department?
(Ms Middleton) No.
716. Who are you working for?
(Ms Middleton) Now, Dame Rennie; before, I have no idea who I was working
for.�
Chairman: Good. I am sorry we cannot do justice to that, but I just wanted to
dip into it ever so slightly. Thank you very much. It is fascinating; and
George Orwell once talked about the deep, deep sleep of England, and it is
interesting that you have come here to wake us up, and the work you are doing I
think is extraordinarily interesting, and we have learned more about it, and I
think we would like to know more about it too, and also thank you for doing it.
Thank you very much indeed.
Some of Julia Middleton�s evidence from the above minutes
are included in the report,
House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee: Government By
Appointment: Opening Up The Patronage State.
Dame
Rennie Fritchie became a Baroness in 2005 and is a member of the House of
Lords.
Julia Middleton,
the CEO of Common Purpose has founded or helped in the founding of DEMOS, the Media Standards
Trust, The Good Governance
Network, Impetus Trust, and Alfanar. Julia is also on the board of
the Orwell
Prize and was an editor of the magazine �Marxism
Today�.
The board of trustees of the Media Standards Trust include
Julia Middleton (CP), Sir David Bell (CP) and Anthony Salz, the executive vice
chairman of Rothschild. The president of the Rockefeller Brothers
Fund in the U.S. was the founding president of Demos (U.S. Think
Tank), an organisation of which he is currently board chair. The History section
of Demos informs us
that Barack Obama was recruited to Demos when he was a state senator in Illinois.
Julia married Rupert J. Middleton in April 1984 in Hackney,
London. Julia�s husband, Rupert J. Middleton is group director of manufacturing
at Trinity Mirror
Newspaper Group.
Julia Middleton is author of the book �Beyond Authority�, and also author of �Quality Circles� (1982),
published under her maiden name Morland, while she was employed by the
Industrial Society. The
Common Purpose Campaign, 1978-1986. (p.32), was active at the time that
Julia was employed at the Industrial Society.
DEMOS was founded in 1993 by former Marxism Today editor Martin Jacques, and Geoff Mulgan, who
became its first director. DEMOS was formed in response to what Mulgan, Jacques
and others saw as a crisis in British politics.
At
an event hosted by the Overseas Development Institute in 2003 to
examine the role of think tanks as policy
makers, Tom Bentley, executive director of DEMOS, is of the opinion that,
�As New Labour has discovered, the gap between policy and practice is one of
the most difficult to bridge. DEMOS has in many ways acted as an intellectual
intermediary in the policy/practice sphere, introducing and working on new
terms (e.g., �social entrepreneurship� and �joined-up government�) as well as
applied thinking. Many policy makers are not well equipped to build
institutions, and DEMOS therefore works through partnerships to develop this
capacity.� This would complement the role of the Fabian Society
which has played a central role for more than a century in the development of
political ideas and public policy.