A great Hustings last night at Church House with the 5
parties (the 3 main plus UKIP and the Greens) delivering their Party's view of
the sector.
All very civilised; but then we are charity leaders, so we
are polite. Indeed even UKIP got a fair hearing (though a few titters at some
of the more "interesting" remarks). Nothing much of a revelation in
terms of policies. Good questions from the floor. An obvious one on the mystery of the missing £40m sustainability
fund. Rob Wilson failed to reveal (said
they were still working on it). An interesting response on the issue of bank
accounts for Muslim charities from UKIP who indicated the State should
intervene.
The hated Lobbying Act was a clear focus. The Greens and
Labour pledging to repeal.
I had asked at the beginning what the Parties intended in
terms of a " long term social plan". We have heard a lot about the
economics from all the parties but so far no coherent outline or vision of how
they see society and how they intend to improve our well being as citizens and
communities beyond the economy. I didn't come away with many answers.
And the polling during the events was telling. We asked the audience to vote on how
optimistic or pessimistic they were about the opportunities for charities after
the election. The pessimists won. It hovered around 70% very or slightly
pessimistic during the event. I'm not surprised. The Parties need to be more
coherent about the offer they have for an essential part of national life. Whether its building social cohesion or delivering better services, giving
voice to the unrepresented or supporting those most in need, we must have a
vibrant charity and social enterprises. If we are all pessimistic that's hardly
a good sign.
But in terms of the event itself, the CAF and ACEVO teams did a brilliant job. Church House was a great venue and the podiums and lighting
looked and felt highly professional; as befits the charity leaders network.
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