Some interesting commentary on the Report I castigated yesterday. An example of why this Report could be dangerous came in a comment piece in the Telegraph on the call for charities to publish their spending on campaigning and political activity.
It says, "We
can infer from this the concern that some have become overly political. Many
take state funds which they then use to engage in political lobbying;
effectively using taxpayers’ money to subsidise a new Left-leaning lobby. One
recent example was Cafod’s support for “climate justice”. The problem is also apparent
in the opposition that some charities have put up against the Government
welfare reform agenda. Not only does the Charities Act 2006 need fixing, but we
also have to address the troubling growth of partisanship in a sector that
ought to be concerned with giving."
Arrant nonsense. But a warning about what motivates the
PASC report. It is not about supporting campaigning. Those in the sector who
welcomed this as a step for "transparency" need to be careful. It has
nothing to do with transparency; you can learn all you need about charities
advocacy and campaigning from their websites. We ain't exactly shy on this
front. But expecting us to count up the number of paper clips and photocopies
we use and report on it is a false transparency. Such an accountancy approach
to transparency misses the point. Let's resist this further attempt to
undermine our legitimate role as civil society. And beware; this is simply a
thin end of a wedge. Instead let's celebrate our campaigning role.
For centuries charities have campaigned; whether it
was the Anti Slavery Society petitioning Parliament, Lord Shaftesbury and the
10 hours league agitating for legislation on working conditions, or the
societies for the prevention of abuse against animals or children in the last
century; or campaigns for human rights and better treatment for mental health
and the disabled in this. Let celebrate the work of Octavia Hill, the ardent campaigner
for the countryside and her National Trust ( founded in 1894)which even today
gets active in campaigning against the Government when they do stupid things
like trying to sell off our forests. Indeed one could argue that charities
advocacy and campaigning are essential underpinning of our democracy.
As Lord Nathan, in his 1952 Lords Committee Report on
charity stated,
“An active questioning charitable sector is one of the
guarantors of democracy”
The suggestion that charities should not campaign on behalf
of their members and beneficiaries over welfare reform, as suggested by PASC Is not simply to ignore the very basis of
charitable activity but profoundly anti democratic. We shall resist attempts to
muzzle civil society.
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