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Third Sector Review

With respect, we can see what the Government are seeking to do, as the Charity Commission revises its guidance for a third time in a way explicitly designed to widen the scope for charities to engage in campaigning. That is very explicit. On the one hand, this amazingly joined-up Government have a proposal to limit what political parties can do with regard to their primary purpose, which is political campaigning, while on the other hand they are explicitly seeking to expand charities' capacity to engage in political campaigning—having already massively expanded what sitting Members of Parliament can spend out of taxpayers' money on promoting themselves. That is an extraordinarily partisan way to carry on with major implications for our democracy. However, there is a much wider and more powerful reason why the Government would be wise to abandon that course. To go down that path would be to imperil further the independence that should be such an important characteristic of the public's perception of what makes a charity special. Public support for charities through donations has already stalled. We believe that it would be devastating for the whole sector, especially the majority in the sector, who have no desire to campaign at all, merely to provide services—[Interruption.] I totally appreciate that no one is going to be compelled to campaign as a result of what the Government are proposing. My concern is for the majority in the charitable sector, who want to get on with the job of providing charitable services to those who need them. I am concerned that their ability to do so will be damaged because their perceived independence and high public purpose will be constrained if it becomes possible for campaigning to be the dominant part of what a charity does. I urge the Government not to go down that path, because in doing so they could do immense damage. It is good that we are having this debate, and it is good that we have not totally broken out into violent agreement on all subjects. There is much in the review, as there was in our own study, that repays further consideration. I hope that the strong difference we have on this issue will not get in the way of our working together sensibly to get what everyone should want: a third sector that is vibrant, vigorous, diverse, genuinely independent, and able to provide services that people in so many parts of our country desperately need.