French theme park agency received UK authorities help regardless of far-right ties

[ad_1] A French enterprise that's planning to construct an unlimited £600m historic theme park in rural Oxfordshire received assist for its plans from the earlier authorities regardless of its founding household’s ties to the far proper and previous reward of Vladimir Putin.

Correspondence obtained below freedom of data (FoI) legal guidelines confirmed the Conservative peer Dominic Johnson, a enterprise and commerce minister in Rishi Sunak’s authorities, promised to “help” Puy du Fou – considered one of France’s hottest theme parks – find a UK web site.

An unnamed UK official later stated departmental employees based mostly in France could be accessible to supply extra assist, whereas the corporate later described the federal government as having been “very supportive” of its plans.

The corporate subsequently unveiled proposals to construct mock medieval castles, resorts and eating places on farmland close to the M40 in Oxfordshire.

The venture has proved controversial, partly owing to objections from native individuals based mostly on issues about site visitors, the demand on native water provides and the potential environmental affect. In February, the Guardian revealed that some dwelling within the space additionally had misgivings concerning the De Villiers household behind the enterprise.

Puy du Fou’s founder, Philippe de Villiers, has been criticised for expressing far-right views, whereas his son Nicolas, who runs the enterprise, appeared to reward Putin after the invasion of Crimea in 2014.

President of the Puy du-Fou theme park, Nicolas de Villiers, left, talks to Emmanuel Macron, centre, the then economics minister, in 2016. {Photograph}: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty Pictures The corporate stated most of the objections to its park had been based mostly on “conspiracy principle mischief making” by native opponents of the plan and that it had handed a authorities due diligence course of “with ease”.

A closely redacted cache of emails obtained below FoI regulation present that in December 2022, Lord Johnson of Lainston – then a minister on the Division for Enterprise and Commerce (DBT) – met representatives of Puy du Fou.

He advised them he had requested the Workplace for Funding to contact the corporate to debate “how we could help you in web site choice”. The peer additionally requested to be stored knowledgeable of “the outcomes we ship”.

In a subsequent letter, in June final yr, an unnamed authorities official advised Puy du Fou: “My DBT colleagues in France are available to help you together with your UK venture,” however added that Johnson might now not focus on coverage as a result of a normal election had been referred to as.

This yr, after the Guardian revealed particulars of the De Villiers household’s hyperlinks to the far proper and obvious reward of Putin, Puy du Fou met Labour MP Chris Bryant, who was then a minister on the Division of Tradition, Media and Sport.

Bryant raised issues concerning the points talked about within the Guardian’s reporting, the emails confirmed.

A readout of the assembly confirmed that Puy du Fou thought-about the federal government had been “very supportive” and requested for this help to be relayed to the native authorities – Cherwell district and Oxfordshire county council.

A DBT spokesperson declined to touch upon whether or not ministers had spoken to the 2 councils, however stated officers had been “reassured” that Puy du Fou now not had ties to Russia and signalled continued help for the park, saying it represented “a considerable funding in our customer financial system” that may create jobs and drive progress.

Philippe de Villiers, a scion of an aristocratic household, conceived Puy du Fou within the Seventies after discovering a ruined Renaissance fortress in western France. It has since grown into one of many nation’s hottest vacationer sights and the corporate additionally has a park in Toledo, Spain. The corporate formally submitted a planning utility for the Oxfordshire web site in August.

It has received help from followers in Britain, a few of whom have arrange a bunch referred to as We Need Puy du Fou UK. However some native individuals have raised issues concerning the venture’s affect on the world, in addition to the household behind it.

De Villiers, a widely known rightwing politician, based a celebration whose manifesto included a ban on the development of recent mosques and a prohibition on homosexual marriage and same-sex adoption.

He nonetheless has a weekly political tv present in France on which he repeatedly rails in opposition to immigration and Islam. In January, he attended the funeral of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founding father of the far-right get together now often called Nationwide Rally.

Friends included De Villiers’ longtime affiliate, the far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour, who was discovered responsible of hate speech in 2022 after a tirade in opposition to unaccompanied immigrant kids, whom he described as thieves, rapists and murderers.

“What he defends is what I dwell for,” De Villiers stated shortly after Zemmour made the remarks. De Villiers is now not concerned in administration of the Puy du Fou firm.

In 2014, his son Nicolas de Villiers, who now runs the enterprise, appeared to defend Putin over Russia’s invasion of Crimea after visiting Moscow to debate plans for 2 theme parks below the model Tsargrad, together with one deliberate for the peninsula.

Puy du Fou’s native funding companion would have been Konstantin Malofeyev, a billionaire oligarch who was already below US, UK and EU sanctions due to his financing of Russia-friendly separatists in Ukraine.

In an interview within the commerce publication Points of interest Administration in 2015, Nicolas de Villiers described Putin as having “candy eyes and candy phrases” and claimed the worldwide neighborhood had misunderstood the Russian president.

De Villiers stated sanctions wouldn't have an effect on plans to construct a Crimean park, and Malofeyev was a person of “nice ethical energy”.

Puy du Fou stated: “There merely isn't any challenge right here, as a lot because the native objectors wish to create one … Puy du Fou ceased all contact with Russian authorities and their representatives in 2014.”

It stated native opponents of the plans for a park in Oxfordshire had been spreading “conspiracy theories”, including that it was proper that the UK authorities was making an attempt to “assist international traders spend money on the UK, delivering a lot wanted progress and new employment”.

The corporate stated it had not supplied help to We Need Puy du Fou UK however had met a few of its members and hosted them at its French park. It stated opponents of the park had declined the identical invitation.