Thread by @docrussjackson

#THREAD on Linda Whetstone, daughter of Antony Fisher, founder of the free-market IEA.

She was Chair of the free-market Atlas Network from 2016, & President of the Mont Pelerin Society in 2020.

Here's her 1978 speech at the Conservative party conference:
bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00…

In 1959, aged 17, Linda Whetstone & her dad, Antony Fisher, participated in her first Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Oxford. She was inspired by the revolutionary ideas discussed by participants. & a lecture from free-market extremist, Friedrich Hayek.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1550140651462971393?s=20&t=Jgr_Rdq4vr8oRhbNhh_WVQ

She was the Atlas Network Chair of the Board in 2016, which now has around 500 partner think-tanks in 100 countries, & Chair of the Board of Free Social Networks (formerly the International Policy Network) in 2000. She was on the IEA board of directors.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1560730687828889601?s=20&t=Jgr_Rdq4vr8oRhbNhh_WVQ

“We have a set of beliefs that we think enable human flourishing. Atlas sets up its stand & people come to us & say ‘that’s what we want’… & then Atlas helps them do it” - Whetstone.

Atlas ideology usually aligns with its donors’ financial interests.

theguardian.com/politics/2019/…

With Nouh El Harmouzi, in 2016 she co-edited the IEA's "Islamic Foundations of a Free Society" - a reflection on 'free-market Islamism', which implores Muslim readers to “understand more clearly the consistency of free society values with Islamic sharia.”

pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles…

The book says Islam emphasises the role & responsibility of the individual. It was published in Dari, Indonesian, Arabic, French & Persian. She also produced a CD containing works by libertarian thinkers, over 150,000 copies of which were distributed in more than 60 countries.

Linda was married to Francis Whetstone, a Lloyd's underwriter, & until 2021 a Tory Councillor for East Sussex County Council. At the 27th 'International workshop' of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, participants were invited to explore their country home, Bassetts Manor.

Linda was a past chair & president of the Conservative Association in Wealden, the third safest Conservative seat in the country.

Her anti-NHS 'philosophy' was rooted in free market neoliberalism: "We could have won the argument on the #NHS if only we'd been a bit braver."

A 2001 profile quoted her as saying "We have a health service that delivers worse results than almost any other system... We wouldn't buy shoes, or holidays, from the Government, so why do we persist in buying from them the two things closest to our hearts ­- health & education?"

Whetstone accepted her views would put her on the right of the party. She also despises the Countryside Alliance, and, if she'd had her way, all farming subsidies would end.

On 18 August 2008, Whetstone appeared on @BBCNewsnight to comment on water scarcity.

Predictably, Whetstone presented the neoliberal market view that most of the shortage issues should be dealt with via the market, i.e., charging for the resource, issuing property rights, & removing 'government interference' AKA, sensible regulation.

#55Tufton Street's Adam Smith Institute wrote a memorial to her which emphasised that she advised Margaret Thatcher on agricultural policy reform & wrote reports & spoke at events for the Adam Smith Institute criticising the agricultural subsidies system.

adamsmith.org/blog/in-memori…

In a 2008 Adam Smith Institute article, Whetstone wrote: "None of us, including farmers, want to see animals kept in cruel conditions.... One thing is for certain - Govt regulation is rather less likely to promote animal welfare than is a market driven by concerned human beings."

Linda's daughter Rachel Whetstone is an extremely well connected PR executive who was in charge of communications & public policy for Google for nearly 10 years.

This 2018 Tattler article is titled: "The posh girl loved by the valley billionaires."

tatler.com/article/rachel…

She was senior VP of comms & public policy for Uber until April 2017.

She then joined Facebook as VP of comms of its WhatsApp, Instagram & Messenger products.

Since August 2018, she has been the chief communication officer (CCO) of Netflix.

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4…

Upon graduation she joined Conservative Central Office, advising then-Home Secretary Michael Howard, then entered the private sector, working for T-Mobile UK & Portland PR, before returning to Westminster in 2003 as Political Secretary to Howard when he became Tory Party leader.

In February 2013, Rachel Whetstone was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.

Whetstone has been featured on PRWeek's Power List several times, most recently in 2016 at number 14.

Rachel is married to Steve Hilton, who served as director of strategy for British PM David Cameron from 2010 to 2012.

Since 2017, Hilton has hosted The Next Revolution, a weekly current affairs show for Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, & is a vocal supporter of former President Trump.