When in a hole....

Amazing to get tweet from Guardian saying PM press spokesperson had defended the Osborne charity tax cap. They said " there was strong evidence it was being used aaa ethos of tax avoidance. Some of the wealthiest people in the country were giving to charities that don't do a great deal of charitable work in order to wipe out their tax bills. " An outrageous claim from No 10. If they know of charities who are abusing their charitable Status their duty is to report them to the Charity Commission , and if there is evidence to support the accusation from No 10 then charitable stauts must be removed. This implies that No 10 have information on fraud which they have not given to the Chairty Commission. The Chair of the Commission must write immediately to No 10 and demand the names pf these so called charities. If they cannot do that then this accusation must be withdrawn. Apart from the slur this also denigrates the contributions of the many philanthrisys who support great charities and are now being classed as tax avoiders. I can't think of anything that would make charity leaders and donors more angry. Frankly I was hoping that we would see common sense and get this changed. But if this is the level of debate we are to expect then I can't see anyone turning up for the May Giving Summit as it makes the claims of the Governmnet to want more philanthropy look hollow. And surely that cannot be what they want. A crass intervention. When in a hole , stop digging!