Sir Stephen Bubb has today written to The Times criticising an article which attacks charities for lacking transparency and political campaigning.
The chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, Bubb (pictured), responded to a piece written by Stephen Pollard, the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, which appeared in the ‘Thunderer’ section of The Times on Monday.
Pollard praised a proposed Charity Commission reform which would require charities to declare campaigning spending and government income in their annual returns.
He said charities which did not want to declare their campaigning spend should simply give up charitable status.
"When a vested interest decides to fight a reform, the merit of its case is in inverse proportion to the hyperbole it uses to make its argument," he wrote.
"On that basis, there is indeed no worthwhile argument against the Commission’s plan because the charities’ lobby groups have screamed at full volume."
Bubb, among other sector leaders, had previously criticised the proposals, calling them “corrosive, disproportionate and illogical”, however Pollard has referred to such objections as “bare-faced brazenness”.
Pollard went on to directly criticise Bubb, writing: “Sir Stephen Bubb, for example, head of the charity chief executives’ union, says that the proposal is an attack on free speech, even though all it does is oblige charities to say how much they spend on campaigning. It doesn’t stop them doing it”.
“If an organisation is going to enjoy the benefits that society grants to charities, including exemption from inheritance and other taxes, then the rest of us are entitled to at least an inkling of how it spends our money," Pollard wrote.
“If secrecy means so much to them, there’s a simple solution: don’t take charitable status. Behave like any other private body, free of any of the obligations that come with the territory.
“But if you want our money, tell us how you spend it."
Bubb responded to the direct attack. He said: “The attempt to separate ‘political’ campaigning from their other work is at best illogical. At worst, it panders to an infantilised debate that gives the false impression that campaigning is an optional extra to a charity’s work with beneficiaries.”
Bubb went on to say that “charity campaigning may be political but this does not make it partisan”, adding that “those in power are entitled to object to what is said, but not to charities’ right to say it”.
DEC campaign controversy
Earlier this month the Jewish Chronicle was involved in controversy when an advert for the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Gaza appeal appeared in an issue of the paper. Many people were angered by this and Pollard was forced to respond stating that advertisements in the paper are kept separate from editorial content and that it was not in any way an expression of the paper’s view.
Following the adverts appearance in the paper, the DEC issued a statement confirming that it is not political and stating that “giving aid is not taking sides”.
Saleh Saeed, chief executive of the DEC, said: “While there is understandable and passionate disagreement about this conflict, the DEC wishes to affirm that there can be no excuse for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. Although we have been saddened by the tone of some contributions to the public debate, the extraordinary generosity of the UK public in response to our Gaza appeal has provided a moving counterpoint.”
