Sergei & The Westminster Spy Ring

£42,879.49

Raised

Donations

£46,300

Goal


NEW CITIZENS PODCAST SERIES TO EXPOSE TRUTH BEHIND RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE IN BRITISH POLITICS 


Why has the government refused to investigate Russian interference in our democracy? We plan to tell the story of how the Kremlin captured the British establishment. But due to mounting legal fees, we need one final favour to get this podcast across the line. Can you support us?


From exclusive parties at the Russian Embassy to the corridors of Westminster, journalists Carole Cadwalladr and Peter Jukes – with the help of Conservative party whistleblower Sergei Cristo – expose an alleged secret spy ring operating at the very heart of the British political system. This is the untold story of the most audacious Russian influence operation in British history. It involves honey traps, Russian agents and information warfare.

As we go to press, the Electoral Commission is now urging Keir Starmer to take a tougher stance on donations to political parties because Elon Musk —- the world's richest man —- wants to donate up to £80m to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party. We can’t let Elon Musk do in the UK what he has done in the US and buy our democracy out from under us. 

This brand new podcast from the Citizens and sister company Project Citizen, seeks to shine a light in the dark corners of a Westminster spy ring, and show how power infiltrates and subverts democracy. It’s why we at the Citizens, with your support, took a legal action against the UK government to protect our elections from foreign interference; a case that is now at the European Court of Human Rights. 

We know this podcast has been a long time in the making. We have been exposed to much higher legal costs then we anticipated and are now £10k over budget. It’s hard and increasingly costly to speak truth to power. If you can HELP US PLUG THIS GAP it would make an enormous difference to us. We operate on a shoestring budget and £10k is a very large sum for us. 


Why we need this podcast series


We have been campaigning for more than three years for a full investigation into the findings of the Russia Report. In August 2020, we joined forces with a cross-party group of MPs and peers to bring a legal action against the government for its failure to protect our democratic integrity. Our next step is to bring together for the first time all of the different threads of this story in a compelling podcast series and examine close-up the issue which our security services have identified as the single biggest threat to our national security. With your help, we think we can do it. 


Our legal challenge and this campaign is more important than ever as overseas actors like Musk threaten to consolidate power on both sides of the Atlantic by making use of a weak legal framework - one that our legal action seeks to strengthen. 


Your donations will help us cover our rising legal costs and take this podcast to the finish line. 


The Citizens is a non-profit organisation which is funded through grants from Ford Foundation, Luminate, Open Society Foundations and via public donations from our supporters. Read more about us at https://the-citizens.com/about-us/



Donor Wall255

Harry

watching this influence crew operate makes me want to ride round Glasgow with a loudspeaker playing the Star Wars theme and shouting 'Hail our New Imperial Masters' like that bloke did when all the Westminster politicians turned up to woo Scotland into staying in the Union.

Angela | £10.90

Sorry it's not more but I donated to Wikipedia earlier. I'm really looking forward to this podcast with Peter and I wholeheartedly support you and your Observer collegues journalism.

Simon | £26.48

Sarah Onions | £31.48

Brian Mackie | £25

Thank you for continuing to hold unregulated power to account.

Richard Harper | £10.90

Alex Thomson | £26.48

Incredible stuff and needs critical support.

Rosalind

Shen

Essential journalism

Neil Chapman

Keep doing what you do best Carol and hold these people to account. We all need you.

Mr A D Mc Lean | £10.90

The UK is a broken state, with an archaic and out of control political system at its heart. We fret about Musk's threatened donations to Reform, but the much more significant influence of foreign media barons remains unchecked. The House of Lords becomes ever more corrupt as layers of cronies, donors, family members, and political rejects are handed life-long keys to the corridors of power. A political system that allows Baron Lebedev of Siberia to sit in its legislature has clearly lost all sense of purpose. A small contribution to your appeal but it is backed by huge support for your efforts.

Gordon Wilson | £10.90

Colin Reed

Our institutions need overhaul. Before that can happen, the positions of power must be occupied by people of honesty, sincerity and decency. This is a good first step. #AllOutGreen for a corruption-free future.

David Roy | £52.32

Any chance of loaning Carole Cadwalladr to the US for a parallel program?

Philip Parry | £5.69

Jane Page

This investigation is hugely important and impacts us all. It needs exposing.

J | £26.41

Johnson's Government introduced voter IDs to supposedly improve the integrity of UK elections (despite acknowledging low levels of voter fraud), whilst also refusing to investigate the far greater threat of Russian Government interference in the same elections. Tory administrations over the last 13 years have worked in their own interests and not those of the UK public. I hope that your podcast can throw more light on this.

Oliver Dowding | £52.32

This is one of the most vital issues which the government repeatedly dodges. All power to Carole Cadwalladr and the team for gettting this far. If we don't see this through we will be condemned to ever more corruption of our electoral process.

Gwawr | £5

The truth will out - with help

Andy Nattrass | £26.41

juliana ruhfus

Richard Caddell | £52.18

Thanks for all your work on exposing this - Richard & Sasha

Jerome Morrow | £25

fantastic job

john whitehead | £5.69

Clifford Siegel

Kenneth Muir | £52.18

Thank you for the work you do in exposing these dangers to our country and the integrity of our democracy.

Alessandra | £5.69

Following you from Italy, because it's not only happening in the UK

Simon

Juliette Bunker | £5

This story needs telling.

David Rogers | £21.23

Look forward to hearing; very important this is out there and publicised.