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Third Sector Review

I shall give way in a minute. Such organisations are deterred partly because of the perception of the rules, and partly—we need to be honest about this—because they fear that if they are funded by the Government, they might endanger that funding by criticising the Government. As the Charity Commission said in April 2007:"““We are aware from our work with charities that trustees sometimes exercise a considerable degree of self-censorship in undertaking campaigns, and may not be aware of the extent to which they can campaign””." That is why the Charity Commission has issued a new briefing document on campaigning and is reviewing its guidance. We all have a responsibility to make people understand what that is and is not about. It is not about charities supporting political parties. As the Charity Commission says, and as was clear from the Charities Act 2006, which I took through the House of Commons,"““a charity must not support a political party or candidate.””" Furthermore, as I have said many times, the law does not allow—and nor should it in future allow—charities to be set up for political purposes. The issue is about organisations being able to campaign to change the law. I hope that all hon. Members will support charities' right to advocate, partly because we all have our own personal experiences of charities that we have worked with. I include the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), who has expressed concerns about the issue of charity campaigning. I have discovered that he is a prominent supporter of the campaign by the charity Garden Organic to change the law on the planning classification of gardens. On its website, that charity says that one of its purposes is"““to campaign where we can make a real difference.””" It urges its members to take action—to"““write to the minister for housing and planning…sign the petition on the Number 10 website””" and"““make a donation to help us continue lobbying for change””." The website also pays tribute to the hon. Gentleman's work on its campaign, and he paid tribute to the help that he received from the charity with his private Member's Bill last year. My position is that, whether or not I agree with Garden Organic, I defend absolutely—