Simon Dolan

Simon Dolan (born 20 May 1969[1]) is a businessman, entrepreneur and founder of Keep Britain Free (the KBF), a group associated with the British anti-vaccine movement.[2] According to Companies House, which list his directorships, Dolan is resident in Monaco [3] and in France.[4] According to The Sunday Times Rich List in 2020, Dolan is worth £200 million.[5]

Simon Dolan
Born	20 May 1969
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Known for	Keep Britain Free COVID-19 Conspiracy Movement, Investments, films and race driver
Net worth	GB£200 million (Sunday Times Rich List, 2020
Height	171 cm (5 ft 7 in)

Career

Dolan's first major business was SJD Accountancy. In 1999 Dolan also set up Contractor Umbrella Ltd. SJD Accountancy was acquired in 2014 along with accounting practice Nixon Williams by Sovereign Capital for over £100 million.[6]

Dolan began investing in new start-up companies via Twitter in 2010, initially offering a £5 million investment pot for successful business pitches on the social networking site, earning himself the nickname "Twitter Dragon".[7] Dolan has invested in Global Moguls.[8]

Dolan set up Dolan Accountancy in 2017.[9] Dolan Accountancy was the winner in the Best Contractor Accountant (under 1,000 clients) category in the 2019 Contracting Awards.[10]

Involvement in Conspiracy Theory Movement

Involvement with David Icke

Dolan was Executive Producer[11] of the 2019 film Renegade, featuring anti-semitic[12] conspiracy theorist David Icke and co-produced by David Icke's son Jaymie Icke. The Times of Israel stated, 'The former footballer and TV presenter’s documentary, ‘Renegade – The Life Story of David Icke‘, reflects on his work and campaigns. This has included championing anti-Jewish propaganda and attempting to legitimise the infamous Tzarist forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which claims “Zionists” control the world. In one of his books, Icke said Jews “created the circumstances which made the Second World War inevitable” and “financed Hitler to power in 1933 and made the funds available for his rearmament”.'[13]

Trivialising seriousness of COVID-19

Dolan has referred to the novel coronavirus as a 'cold bug'.[14] On 1 February 2021, Dolan stated, 'I see Captain Sir Tom Moore is in hospital with supposed Covid. He most certainly NOT in hospital because he is over 100 years old, has been suffering from pneumonia for a few weeks and had a mRNA 'vaccine'. If this poor man is snatched from us prematurely in the prime of his life, the nation will mourn.'[15] Captain Sir Tom Moore died on 2 February 2021 after testing positive for COVID-19.[16]

COVID-19 Lockdown Conspiracy Theories

Dolan believes that the British government has ulterior motives for the COVID-19 lockdowns. He sees it as a way for those in power to "test how malleable a society is" in order to limit citizens' freedom, or as a way to introduce mandatory vaccinations. Dolan also referenced climate change, which he says the government has "been banging on about". He said: "What has happened will undoubtedly help [climate change campaigns], because the world has become cleaner as industries have shut down." According to Dolan, people who receive “a cheque for nothing” are the ones supporting the lockdown.[17]

On 1 May 2020, Dolan started proceedings to challenge the UK Government's lockdown decision, suggesting the Government had acted illegally and disproportionately over the COVID-19 lockdown.[18] He began a crowdfunding campaign to fund the proposed action, writing on the crowdfunding page: "By forcing people to stay at home, and forcing businesses to close, they are, we believe, in contravention of basic Human Rights offered under English Law, that of the right to enjoy your property peacefully."[19] As of 10 June it had raised over £210,000 with almost 7,000 people contributing.[20] The proceedings were opposed by The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB). The IWGB stated on 4 June 2020, ' The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) is applying to intervene in a High Court legal challenge brought by multi-millionaire Simon Dolan. Dolan, a conspiracy theorist and businessman based in Monaco, is attempting to force the government to prematurely end the lockdown, a move that would disproportionately impact low-paid and BAME workers.'[21]

On 6 July 2020, Dolan was refused permission for judicial review by the Honourable Mr Justice Lewis, who said, 'The context in which the restrictions were imposed, however, was of a global pandemic where a novel, highly infectious disease capable of causing death was spreading and was transmissible between humans. There was no known cure and no vaccine. There was a legal duty to review the restrictions periodically and to end the restrictions if they were no longer necessary to achieve the aim of reducing the spread and the incidence of coronavirus. The regulations would end after six months in any event. In those, possibly unique, circumstances, there is no realistic prospect that a court would find that regulations adopted to reduce the opportunity for transmission by limiting contact between individuals was disproportionate.'[22] On 9 July, Dolan launched an appeal against the decision.[23][19]

Dolan's appeal against the initial decision was successful and on 5 August the Court of Appeal ruled that the challenge against the UK Government lockdown would continue to be heard with Lord Justice Hickinbottom who stated that he was persuaded that the grounds should be considered by the full court in open court, and the claimants "given an opportunity to make good their case, at least on arguability". The Judicial Review will now proceed to a rolled-up hearing expected to be held at the Court of Appeal during the week commencing on 28 September.[24]

On 14 September 2020, Dolan's judicial review legally challenged the then new UK rule of a limit of six people per group otherwise known as the rule of six.[25]

Dolan joined forces with wedding venue operator Cripps Barn Group Ltd to challenge the Government's latest lockdown. On 15 October there was an Interim Injunction Hearing that was denied by the Judge. Following this hearing, the Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle intervened in the case because it raises issues of ‘constitutional importance’[26]

On 1 December, it was ruled that the Government should not face a Judicial Review regarding the initial lockdown measures. The court warned against treating judicial reviews as evolving or “rolling” proceedings, and parties filing “excessively long” pleadings. The court criticised Dolan and the other Appellants for taking two months to start their claim, rather than very promptly following the making of the Regulations in March 2020.[27]

COVID-19 Facemask Conspiracy Theories

Dolan has claimed that requiring people to wear masks is a step toward authoritarianism, tweeting, 'Unless you make a stand, you will be wearing a mask for the rest of your life.'[28][29] Jota Aviation (of which Dolan is Director, Company Secretary[30] and a person with significant control[31]) has been delivering personal protective equipment (PPE) to the NHS.[32] It is a requirement for passengers to wear face masks on board Jota Aviation aircraft.[33]

In 2020, Dolan established activist group Keep Britain Free.[34] On 20 July 2020, Keep Britain Free organised a demonstration in London at which 'Some protesters waved placards referring to masks as "mind control" devices, while others were pictured promoting baseless conspiracy theories including the flat earth theory and a supposed link between 5G and Covid-19. Several demonstrators wore masks to illustrate their opposition to face masks.'[35]

Use of Social Media to Spread Conspiracy Theories

On 29 October 2020, Dolan was suspended from Twitter after he expressed concern about plans for Chinese involvement in the HS2 project and the building of 5G infrastructure. Twitter later reinstated the account saying it had been suspended in error.[36] Dolan has claimed on Twitter, 'The US elections were rigged / There is no climate 'emergency' / The West should not have been shut down for COVID / I do believe all three are related though'. [37] As of January 2021, Dolan has moved his social media presence from Twitter to Gab, a digital safe space for the far right.[38]

COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Theories and Disinformation

Dolan has opposed the UK government's adoption of the Pfizer vaccine.[39] Dolan has called UK Matt Hancock, UK Secreateary of State for Health "Mengele" after the Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele who conducted medical experiments on people in Nazi death camps.[40] Dolan has spread COVID-19 vaccine disinformation[41] based on publication by the far-right newspaper The Epoch Times, which has been identified as targeting COVID-19 misinformation at the UK.[42] On 31 January 2021, Dolan tweeted, 'It’s not a vaccine / It doesn’t stop transmission / It’s not properly tested / It damages and can kill / You don’t need it'[43]

Conspiracy Theories about Alleged Chinese Communist Party Global COVID-19 Fraud

In January 2021, Dolan was a cosignatory[44] of an open letter to the FBI and MI5 titled 'The Chinese Communist Party’s Global Lockdown Fraud', alleging pro-China bias by international scientists and oficials.[45]

Conspiracy Theories about 2020 US election and Support for Neo-Confederacy

Dolan has expressed support for 2020 US election conspiracy theories regarding Dominion Voting Systems. Dolan has claimed 'The Company that owns Dominion Voting Systems received $400m from a Chinese State owned bank, based in Switzerland, in Oct 2020. There are financial connections between Biden and the Chinese State. These are facts.';[46] this claim is based on an article by The Jewish Voice, which has promoted COVID-19 conspiracy theories.[47] In December 2020, Dolan expressed support for Neo-Confederate positions, and specifically the establishment of a Confederate States of America in 2021.[48]

Publication

Dolan's autobiography How To Make Millions Without A Degree: And How to Get by Even If You Have One was published in 2010.[49] It tells the story of how he built his empire after being expelled[50] from school.[51] In the book, Dolan offers advice to business owners and those considering starting their own business instead of going to university.[52][53]

Motor racing

Dolan's interest in motor racing began in March 2007 when he started investing in Jota Sport, which he joined later in 2008 as driver. In 2010, Jota Sport signed a multi-year agreement to become an Aston Martin official partner team in motorsports.[54] Jota initially competed in an Aston Martin V8 Vantage at the 2010 24 Hours of Spa where the team won their class.[55] Dolan and co-driver Sam Hancock participated in the VdeV series with a best finish of third at Circuit Paul Ricard. Dolan made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011.

Dolan's career highlight was 1st place in the LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2014 with Harry Tincknell and Oliver Turvey, who replaced Marc Gené after he was recalled to Team Joest Audi Sport LMP1 team following an accident in practice for Loic Duval.[56]

Following a sponsorship deal with Russian energy company Gazprom, the team competed as G-Drive Racing for the 2016 European Le Mans Series following a transfer of naming rights.[57] Racing in a Gibson 015S, Dolan and G-Drive's season got underway at Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom, in April, where they recorded their opening win of the season in the LMP2 category.[58] The victory was followed up with a runners-up finish at the following race at Imola, in May 2016. The team's good performance continued throughout the season and was capped with a victory in the final race of the season at Estoril, in Portugal. The victory secured the 2016 European Le Mans Series title for G-Drive Racing. Dolan topped the Drivers' classification alongside teammates Giedo Van Der Garde and Harry Tincknell, all securing 105 points.[59]

Journey to Le Mans

Dolan was the focus of a 2014 British promotional film, directed by Dolan's business partner[60] Charlotte Fantelli, that followed Jota Sport on their quest to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 category in 2014. The film followed Dolan and his Jota Sport teammates and captured the highs and lows the team encountered on their way to victory. Dolan is the owner and sole Director of Fantelli Productions.[61] [62]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2011	Jota	Sam Hancock Chris Buncombe	Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	GTE Pro	74	DNF	DNF
2012	Jota	Sam Hancock Haruki Kurosawa	Zytek Z11SN-Nissan	LMP2	271	DNF	DNF
2013	Jota Sport	Oliver Turvey Lucas Luhr	Zytek Z11SN-Nissan	LMP2	319	13th	7th
2014	Jota Sport	Oliver Turvey Harry Tincknell	Zytek Z11SN-Nissan	LMP2	356	5th	1st
2015	Jota Sport	Oliver Turvey Mitch Evans	Gibson 015S-Nissan	LMP2	358	10th	2nd
2016	G-Drive Racing	Jake Dennis Giedo van der Garde	Gibson 015S-Nissan	LMP2	222	DNF	DNF

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	Rank	Points
2016	G-Drive Racing	LMP2	Gibson 015S	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	SIL 1	IMO 2	RBR 3	LEC 5	SPA 5	EST 1	1st	103

References

1. "GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS". GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS.
2. https://www.ft.com/content/2fc9e693-790a-40ab-8ac2-0aafd59ef515(subscription+required)
3. "DOLAN ACCOUNTANCY LIMITED - Officers (free information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
4. "JOTA AIRCRAFT LEASING LTD - Officers (free information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
5. Times, The Sunday. "Rich List 2020: profiles 601-700=, featuring Ed Sheeran and Calvin Harris" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
6. Reed, Kevin (22 September 2014). "£100m private equity deal creates new accounting group". Accountancy Age.
7. Kaffash, Jaimie (31 August 2011). "Simon says reform the partnership model". Accountancy Age. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
8. Hurley, James (14 June 2010). "Successful business pitches via twitter get 800k investment". The Daily Telegraph. London.
9. "Meet the Team - Nationwide Contractor Accountants". Dolan Accountancy. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
10. https://www.contractingawards.co.uk/winners-2019
11. "Renegade (2019) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
12. Alter, Alexandra (21 December 2018). "Alice Walker, Answering Backlash, Praises the Author as 'Brave'". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
13. https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/talk-radio-allows-notorious-antisemite-david-icke-to-promote-film/
14. https://www.broadsheet.ie/2020/08/27/taking-the-pisa-now/
15. https://gab.com/Simondolan/posts/105655101152802560
16. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/02/captain-sir-tom-moore-dies-at-100-after-testing-positive-for-covid
17. "Are the Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories Real?". www.vice.com.
18. Jones, Amy (1 May 2020). "Leading businessman launches legal challenge against Government's lockdown measures". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
19. Sillars, James (6 July 2020). "Coronavirus: Businessman loses legal fight over 'draconian' lockdown". Sky News. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
20. "Crowd Justice legal challenge". Crowd Justice. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
21. "Lockdown is required to protect BAME and low paid workers' lives, IWGB to argue in High Court intervention". iwgb.org.uk.
22. "Coronavirus: Businessman loses legal fight over 'draconian' lockdown". Sky News.
23. "KEEP BRITAIN FREE – APPEAL". 9 July 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
24. Slingo, Jemma (28 August 2020). "Lockdown legal challenge reaches next stage of litigation". Law Gazette. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
25. Hymas, Charles (10 September 2020). "'Rule of six' restrictions already facing legal challenge". Retrieved 27 September 2020.
26. Stennett, Nathan (22 October 2020). "Speaker intervenes in Simon Dolan's legal fight against lockdown". Bdaily. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
27. "Challenge to lockdown regulations heard by the Court of Appeal – Judgment". 1 December 2020.
28. https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-understanding-the-outbreak-health-media-social-media-86f61f3ffb6173c29bc7db201c10f141
29. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/misinformation-virus-proving-highly-contagious-72056314
30. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07084872/officers
31. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07084872/persons-with-significant-control
32. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/may/01/uk-government-faces-legal-challenge-coronavirus-lockdown-businessman-simon-dolan
33. https://sway.office.com/cIq0S67jlkDvQYLw?ref=Link&loc=play,
34. "Anti-mask demonstrators protest mandatory face coverings in shops". The Independent. 20 July 2020.
35. CNN, Rob Picheta. "Hundreds of demonstrators, some wearing masks, protest against mask-wearing in London". CNN.
36. Scullion, David (30 October 2020). "Twitter suspends lockdown challenger". The Critic. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
37. "Tweet". twitter.com. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
38. Hess, Amanda (30 November 2016). "The Far Right Has a New Digital Safe Space (Published 2016)" – via NYTimes.com.
39. https://firstdraftnews.org/daily-briefing/uk-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-sparks-false-infertility-claims/
40. https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7jjp3/coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-5g-lockdown
41. https://twitter.com/simondolan/status/1346708857834373120
42. https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/internet/2020/04/councillors-politicians-uk-trump-conspiracy-theory-outlet-epoch-times-coronavirus
43. https://twitter.com/simondolan/status/1355894310395404303
44. Times <[email protected]> (https://bylinetimes.com/), Byline (12 January 2021). "LBC Radio Host Maajid Nawaz Bankrolled by US Republican Dark Money". Byline Times.
45. Fraud, The CCP's Global Lockdown (10 January 2021). "The Chinese Communist Party's Global Lockdown Fraud". Medium.
46. https://twitter.com/simondolan/status/1334466529879011334?lang=en
47. "Bombshell Video Exposes Dr. Fauci & Bill Gates, History of Corruption, Greed and Connection to Wuhan Lab". thejewishvoice.com. The Jewish Voice. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
48. https://twitter.com/simondolan/status/1338071506337849345?lang=en
49. "The Upstart – 'How to make millions without a degree' review". Archived from the original on 4 September 2014.
50. "The high school dropout who banked £80m". 3 June 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
51. Pukas, Anna (4 March 2011). "I'm proof you can make millions even after dropping out of school". Express.co.uk.
52. "The Wright Stuff – Q & A session with business men and women".
53. Dolan, Simon (18 August 2011). "The Telegraph – You don't need a degree to get ahead". The Daily Telegraph. London.
54. "Jota Sport Sign Aston Martin Deal". 8 June 2010. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012.
55. "Team Jota win Spa 24 Hours in GT4". 2 August 2010.
56. "Le Mans 24 Hours: Marc Gene to replace Duval in #1 Audi". crash.net. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
57. "JOTA Sport Announces Partnership With Gazprom Neft" Archived 13 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine fiawec.com
58. "Van der Garde wins on sportscar debut with Jota in Silverstone ELMS" autosport.com/
59. "ELMS Estoril: Van der Garde seals championship in Jota Sport Gibson" autosport.com/
60. https://www.bizmag.co.uk/News/newsStory.aspx?storyID=550&sectionID=7
61. "FANTELLI PRODUCTIONS LIMITED - Officers (free information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk.
62. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08086245/persons-with-significant-control

External links

• Official website