Hiding behind the halo

Of all the things that have made Britain so successful for so long, our culture of volunteering and charity is amongst the most remarkable.

For centuries, people have donated their time, and their money, to causes that they care about — whether aimed at improving their local area, or supporting people in need, or helping others to flourish. It is a wonderful thing that we live in a country where so many people feel drawn to making small sacrifices for the benefit of others. Just as wonderful is the fact that this can happen without government intervention or direction.

But today, far too many organisations are exploiting the warmth that we feel towards charity. Some are providing cover for extremists, or those with contempt for our democracy. Others take money for a stated purpose, and spend it on political causes that most of their donors would totally disapprove of. Others still rely entirely on taxpayer money and use that money for ideological ends.

Last month, it was revealed that Shelter, a taxpayer-funded homelessness charity, had tried to force pro-migration propaganda into the personal testimony of a formerly homeless veteran.

Last week, it was revealed that taxpayer money set aside by Angela Rayner’s department had been funnelled to the Ella Baker School of Organising. This money was used to finance explicitly partisan training for activists, including lectures on how to steer voters away from the Conservative Party, and materials on how to convince the public to be more pro-immigration.

Charitable status is now providing cover for extremist groups

But worse, charitable status is now providing cover for extremist groups, which push norms and ideas which are fundamentally incompatible with our own.

Last year, the East London Mosque’s “Muslim Charity Run” — endorsed and supported by Lutfur Rahman, the Mayor of Tower Hamlets — banned women and girls from participating.

And the Hackney Islamic Community Centre, a registered charity, has recently been flagged to the charities regulator by my colleague Rebecca Paul, after it was caught publishing sermons which push extremist beliefs. One of these sermons endorsed the idea that, if a wife refuses sex, her husband is well within his rights to beat her.

Organisations which promote views like these have no business existing in Britain at all – let alone benefitting from the generous treatment that comes with charitable status.

And a few weeks ago, at the Green Party’s annual conference, one party organiser admitted that some mosques had endorsed Green Party candidates, despite it being illegal to do so under charities law. Speaking specifically about February’s Gorton & Denton by-election, Asma Alam admitted that, while mosques “can’t endorse a political party”, because “they all have…charitable status”, some had been willing to “break ranks” and endorse the Greens.

By “break ranks”, she really means “break the law”. Registered charities aren’t allowed to endorse or campaign for political parties under any circumstances.

If this apparent illegal activity weren’t bad enough, it’s deeply worrying for our democracy that so many candidates are now stoking group-based grievances to win votes. British democracy has been so successful because candidates have appealed to people on the basis of their individual beliefs, and the national interest. This kind of sectarian campaigning is one of the single biggest threats to our democracy today, and yet the Government seems totally blind to the ways in which some organisations are feeding into this poisonous trend, and using the cover of charitable status to do so.

Registered charities benefit from generous tax relief, including sweeping exemptions on income tax and Stamp Duty. Through Gift Aid, they can reclaim much of the tax that they do pay.

This set-up is designed to encourage people to donate to charity, and to allow charities themselves to make a positive impact without getting hit with massive tax bills.

But in far too many cases, these arrangements are being extended to dangerous organisations, which peddle extremist views and which threaten the foundations of our democracy.

At the absolute bare minimum, the Charity Commission — the body responsible for regulating registered charities — has to take this issue much more seriously. Far too often, charitable status is providing cover for extremists, who get away with little more than a slap on the wrist. The Government is currently consulting on whether or not to give the Commission more powers to deal with extremism, but given their record on this issue, there’s precious little reason to believe that any new powers will go far enough.

Under Kemi Badenoch’s leadership, the Conservative Party has worked hard to shine a light on these disgraceful abuses of charitable status. We have been clear that extremist and ideological groups should not benefit from favourable tax treatment. When people give money to charity, they should be able to trust that it’ll be spent on the cause that they intended to support in the first place.