We learn today the government wants to give some taxpayers money to charities for political campaigning.
Surely the government could hold some meetings with charities to find out what they want, without giving them money to run ads to tell them?
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April 8, 2009
Oh John. This isn;t for real charities – like children dying of fatal diseases. This is for pseudo-charities like political think-tanks who (take-ed) money (that could be given to -ed) the dying childen.
It’s just like disabled benefit claimants – there are real disabled people who are in wheel chairs and benefit-cheats who have a bit a sore arm, after spending it on late night videos(words left out).
.. or like the tax payers. There are real tax payers who have to account for their expenses and tax-cheats like some MPs(ed), who steal money off hard working families.
April 8, 2009
2 words:
Common Purpose
April 8, 2009
John,
Yesterday evening on Channel 5, an excellent documentary was broadcast on the issue of Fri/Sat night in a typical Hospital A&E.
The type of drunk, violent, “I know my rights” society that has been created in the last 12 years.
If you missed it, please obtain a recording, as it would make an excellent Blog subject.
The hero of the programme is the enigmatic, spectacle wearing Dr who really does “state it as it is”. She should be invited to be the new Tory minister for health. She trully is a hero.
April 8, 2009
What is Dr Who doing in a hospital ?
April 8, 2009
Another example of Brown’s determination to politicise everything.
April 8, 2009
The government should get right out of charity work. Right out.
It is far too slow to do anything (cp banking?)
When we were inundated with immigrants, for instance, in Wisbech, the government did absolutely nothing except to impede the local college by making it demand lots of very personal details from the immigrants (“Where do you live?”) Eventually, the course closed at the height of the crisis.
In our Church, we asked no questions, but just got on with it. We were overhwelmed. And the help from the government? Zilch.
Now all the immigrants have gone home again, the government are providing all sorts of goodies – just four years too late.
In Churches, we are god at charity work (we have been at it long enough!) But we also have a lot of things that governments (especially liberal ones) hate. We are funny about marriage, for instance. We are funny about gay people getting married and adopting children. We are pretty poor, but we don’t think we are charity cases. We worship the God of Israel, not the State, and we do not think that we can easily improve people because we, too are miserable sinners.
We do not want a whole “raft” of stuff about anti smoking, equality opportunities, disabled ramps, fat control, anti-God rants, anti racism and paternity leave/48 hour week for priests either. We ought to be getting on with that anyway without being told to.
This, like the blog, is not presented as anything except my own personal view; I have no right to speak for any organisation at all.
PS – Masterly presentation on Newsnight last night! Even Gavin Essler was impressed!
April 8, 2009
As an Atheist the whole religious thing has often bewildered me.
However, even I cannot help noticing the huge effort our local church puts towards charity work with zero help from our beloved Socialist government.
April 8, 2009
Charities should not accept government money for awareness raising or political campaigning, as that just turns them into lobbyists. Typical labour approach, just throw money at it. You can bribe the people, many political parties/Politicans have, but to bribe the selfless, thats low.
April 8, 2009
You could not make it up.
April 8, 2009
Excellent!
Will the Tories adopt this as official policy for all fakecharities?
April 8, 2009
Having a little fun here – I’m sure you know perfectly well they already give a vast amount for charitable campaigning & that the purpose is not to persuade the politicians they should spend & regulate more but to persuade the public to put up with it (& to get a BBC state funded interviewer to give air time to a state funded “charity” worker to explain why we need more state funding).
April 8, 2009
Liam Byrne on Today this morning tried to make out this was to encourage charities to voice their concerns. Sounds more like a device to get UK taxpayer to fund lobby groups who will be mostly minorities, that is against the majority Conservative vote of England. This should be highly controversial. Is a charity a charity or is it a left-inspired pressure group? No thanks and one more reason to go on a tax strike.
April 8, 2009
I do church work. The last thing we want is government meddling. This is just a way to infiltrate and take control, yet again. remember the lotterry hi-jack? I rest my case. May I respectfully request your readers look at a picture on my blog and feel some kind of reaction?
April 8, 2009
Don’t get me started on Quango Charities again please.
http://www.intelligentgiving.com/when_charities_arent_charities
http://fakecharities.org/pages/charities.php
April 8, 2009
One of the largest Voluntary Orgaisations in the World is Lions International (1,500,000 members) where no Member takes any expenses or is paid, hence the word voluntary.
Please advise where we need to apply to get ourselves on the list so that we can spend some money on advertising the good work we do.
Guess Rotary, Round Table, et al would also like the details.
But also guess because we are not Political in any way, we would get absolutely nothing.
April 9, 2009
All that would be required would be yo issue ar “report” (ie press release) calling for more tegulayion & more & better paid civil servants to enforce it & you can expect an enormous postal order shoertly. Thats how ASH did it.
April 8, 2009
Having infiltrated the larger charities the socialists now want to bring the smaller ones to heel.
It’s obviously not enough that the National Trust tell us our heritage is ill gotten gain from slavery; the RSPB support wind farms; and Help the Aged funds propaganda films about Gaza.
They’ve got to get their placemen in positiion before May 2010. Then when the Conservatives have to insist that charities are supported by charity, Labour have the perfect opportunity to cast them as the ‘nasty party’.
I once worked for a very evil person who ran our department on the basis of ‘do as I want’ and you will get anything you need even if it is not official policy, budget, equipment, staff: be your own person and I will find every way to harress you and make your life unbearable. The Labour party works on the same principle.
April 8, 2009
It’s another part of the process of establishing a totalitarian state, and haven’t the Tories also been sucked into supporting it?
April 8, 2009
British People are by nature naturally caring and Generous, take the success of comic relief, we do not need Govt to get involved with that to.
In fact, if Govt wants us to Give more, the best thing it could do would be to cut Govt spending, so reducing our tax burden, hey presto, more money for people to be generous with.
Same thing with Foreign aid, If the tax burden of the British people were significantly decreased, more peopple would support overseas aid charities.
Cut out the Middle man ( Ie the Govt ) and there would be far far more to go round.
This is why Communism fails, it is simply inneficient.
But of course, that involves giving people more free choice.
April 8, 2009
It’s very simple.
Accept money from anyone who has taken that money from others and you compromised, for you are accepting and going along with non-voluntary contributions.
Taxation is…
When I buy something, I make a voluntary exchange. I give some money, I receive in return something worth that money.
When I pay tax, *there is no pledge to provide to me in return something of equal value to the money I pay*.
In fact, all these is…is…that the Government will spend it as it sees fit. Including donating it to charities I would never donate to.
April 8, 2009
A cynic may wonder how political campaigns funded by the state could be anything but aligned to the message of the ruling party.
Smells like state funding by proxy for party political advertising.
April 9, 2009
What’s the likelihood that public money will be given for political campaigning that is in conflict with departmental policy? For example, can we expect that Transform (which criticises the War on Drugs) will get a grant, or do you think that Positive Prevention Plus, which frequently issues statements denouncing legalisers as a noisy minority of elitists, is likely to get help doing so?
April 9, 2009
Much better just to abolish charitable status altogether.
It would simplify our tax system, and we would not need so many civil servants (e.g. the Charities Commission).
It would also remove much of the funding from bogus charities.
In any case, who is to say that one activity is more deserving than any other? The Government have their criteria (now widely flouted), but other criteria may be just as valid; how about ‘selling food so that we don’t starve’, to take a trivial example?
Charitable Status must go.