GB News co-owner gave £28m to Church of England
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- Sir Paul Marshall donated £28m to two Church of England institutions—Holy Trinity Brompton and the Church Revitalisation Trust—via his Sequoia Trust between 2018 and 2025, with at least £13m going to each.
- Holy Trinity Brompton, the largest Church of England church with roughly 4,000 congregants, runs the Alpha Course, which has reached 37 million people in more than 175 countries; Marshall has worshipped there since 1997 and is a CRT director.
- Rev Dr Darrell Hannah, chair of climate charity Operation Noah, said Marshall's views are "in direct opposition" to the Church of England and that his donations raise "serious questions" about influence on faith institutions.
- GB News aired 953 attacks on climate science around the 2024 UK general election, and Ofcom is investigating the channel over a repeat broadcast of a Donald Trump interview in which his claim that climate change is "a hoax" went unchallenged.
- In March, more than 120 church leaders—including former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and two serving bishops—publicly criticized Marshall and flagged the £1.8bn in fossil fuel investments reportedly held by his hedge fund in 2023.
- The Church of England has a 2030 net zero target and has divested its endowment and pension funds from fossil fuels, while Marshall told the 120+ leaders that human-caused global heating was "still subject to debate"; HTB, CRT and the Church of England all declined to comment to the Guardian.
Why it matters: Marshall bankrolls both GB News (953 climate-science attacks during the 2024 UK election per the source) and Church of England bodies championing climate action. The £28m flowing to institutions whose commitments directly contradict his stated views creates a structural conflict that 120+ church leaders and Operation Noah have now publicly challenged. Ofcom is also probing GB News.
