What is the Institute for Statecraft?

The Institute for Statecraft was set up as an educational charity in 2006 by a retired Ministry of Defence civil servant called Chris Donnelly and a Scottish businessman.

Registered in Scotland, but with its offices in London, The institute says its aim is to help improve governance and statecraft in The public sector in The UK and overseas.

This includes programmes such as health service and police reform as well as conflict resolution, countering Islamist extremism and countering disinformation.

The organisation, which describes itself as a think-tank and a do-tank, employs a small staff of about a dozen people.

The-Russian-intelligence-agency-accused-of-poisoning-The-skripals-11491467">

What is Russia's GRU intelligence agency?

Russia's military intelligence service has been blamed for several global cyber attacks, while two men accused of poisoning The Skripals in Salisbury have been uncovered as GRU agents.

It also has about 90 Fellows, including a handful of individuals who have a background in British intelligence or The military so are experts in security and defence.

These Fellows provide expertise and experience for projects when required.

In 2015 The institute set up a programme called The Integrity Initiative, which it said was designed to counter and raise awareness about disinformation by countries such as Russia and China as well as extremist groups like IS.

It established a network in countries across Europe in what Mr Donnelly described as a grassroots effort to help people understand how disinformation, fake news and black propaganda by a hostile power can be used to attack and undermine democracies.

This programme started to receive Foreign and Commonwealth Office funding in 2017 but Mr Donnelly said The institute is independent of The government and has never been told what to do.