Leah Remini applauds an MP’s call for investigation of Scientology in the UK
Last week we talked to Alexander Barnes-Ross about his stunning news: After writing to his local Member of Parliament (MP) last September about his experiences in Scientology, former Shadow Home Secretary and MP Diane Abbott responded by telling Alex that she has asked HMRC — the UK’s equivalent of the IRS — to open a widespread investigation of what she called Scientology’s “history of fraudulent activity internationally.”
We thought it was a stunning development and something we’ve been hoping to see happen in this country: A national lawmaker calling for a serious investigation of an organization that is known for its abuses.
And it turns out that Leah Remini was also surprised and impressed with Alex’s success.
She gave us this statement about the news from England:
I applaud Alex Barnes-Ross and his unrelenting efforts to expose Scientology for the criminal organization that it is around the world, and particularly in the United Kingdom.
It is from efforts like his, and the collective efforts of so many others, that Scientology will finally be taken to task for evading investigation and, ultimately, prosecution.
The fact that Alex has an MP who is not shying away from seeking the truth is an accomplishment in itself.
I support him, and I thank him — and Ms. Abbott — for asking the UK’s equivalent of the IRS to open a real investigation of Scientology.
If they are not thwarted by Scientology’s usual evasive tactics, they will be successful in exposing this business-for-profit masquerading as a religion around the globe.
And I thank you, Tony, for reporting on this very important story, and thank your supporters for continuing to champion those who fight this criminal organization.
We really appreciate Leah’s kind words, and we can’t help drawing a parallel between what she’s going through at the moment — battling Scientology in court over what she says is years of harassment — and the career of Diane Abbott, the first black woman elected to Parliament and the longest serving Black MP, who has a history of fighting against intimidation and harassment as well.
From Alex’s story about her last week:
Abbott has persevered through decades of abuse and harassment, an Amnesty International report in 2017 finding half of all abusive tweets about female MPs were directed at her. According to The Independent, she receives ten times more abuse than any other MP.
Here then again is the letter that Abbott wrote to Alex, informing him that she has formally asked the HMRC to open an investigation of Scientology.
16th January 2024
Dear Alexander,
Thank you for writing to me about Scientology and what you have faced since leaving the Church of Scientology. Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in responding to you. I am very sorry to hear about the harassment you have faced since leaving the church, no-one should face such a horrific campaign of harassment. I want to commend you for speaking out publicly.
On the matter of harassment and potential criminal actions by members of the church, I regret that as your MP I am unable to provide you with legal advice regarding whether the hate videos or hacking attempts you describe would constitute a basis for legal action. On this issue I would advise you to consider seeking legal help if you have not done so already.
More broadly, I share your concerns about the legality of some of the actions described. As you have said, Scientology has a history of fraudulent activity internationally and other former Scientologists have also attested to the horrific treatment of former members.
I have written to HMRC, who brought the case against the Church of Scientology for ruling that their “chapel” was a place of worship, urging them to look again at options to appeal this decision and also to more broadly investigate the churches finances for fraudulent activity. I will share with you any response I receive.
Thank you again for contacting me about this important matter. If you would like to learn more about what I do in Parliament, please feel free to visit www.dianeabbott.org.uk
Yours sincerely,
Rt Hon Diane Abbott MP
Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington
We’re particularly encouraged by Abbott’s offer to update Alex on what she learns, and we’re looking forward to reporting more about this story in the future.
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It takes courage to investigate scientology. Alex is a brave man to be so public in his efforts. I hope there are so many, as scientology would put it “noisy investigations” initiated that Miscavige is outed for his abuses.
For what it’s worth on this: HMRC are operationally independent when it comes to investigations and the like and takes taxpayer confidentiality super seriously. This is for good reason - otherwise you could get politically motivated tax investigations and then people would spread that and it possibly discredits innocent people. As an example: Nadhim Zahawi was being investigated for his tax affairs while Chancellor and that carried on throughout his short term and no one knew until they announced a settlement between the two.
HMRC may well have a look as a result of this or other complaints or have looked historically and no one would know: that’s the nature of the way this works. HMRC’s reply will be something like “we take fraud seriously but HMRC do not comment on the affairs of individual taxpayers and comment on specific cases”. It’s always better to have these things happen but it’s not going to spark some public investigation.
A big factor is the precise corporate structure: the UK generally is strong on tax avoidance (using tax law in a way that is against what was intended); there’s a litany of laws that are basically “doesn’t matter the letter of the law; if you are doing something fishy you pay a penalty” and judges also don’t like it but it could be that legally they are completely above board. Who knows: investigations on these things are complex beasts.