The Charity Commission has withdrawn a requirement for Ron McKay, spokesman for Respect Party MP George Galloway, to file accounts for Viva Palestina, a Middle East aid charity which Galloway set up in 2009.
As part of an ongoing Commission investigation into Viva Palestina, McKay was last year ordered to file accounts for the charity. But he appealed to the Charity Tribunal, saying he was not a trustee and was not able to file accounts on behalf of the charity. His appeal has now been withdrawn after the Commission agreed to remove his name from an order requring the charity to file accounts. The order itself remains in force.
The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into the charity in July this year over a number of regulatory issues, including the fact that it has never filed accounts. As part of the ongoing inquiry, the regulator issued an order under section 84 of the Charities Act 2011 in September last year, requiring McKay and others to file accounts for the charity for the years ending 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Former supporters of the charity told civilsociety.co.uk that McKay has previously claimed to be a trustee of Viva Palestina. However McKay himself says that he never served as a trustee, although he said he had been a sympathiser and had spoken on its behalf to the Commission.
He appealed against the section 84 order to the Charity Tribunal in October last year, and his appeal was allowed to proceed by Alison McKenna, principal judge at the Tribunal, even though it was made outside the normal 42-day time limit.
The Commission has confirmed that it has now removed McKay’s name from the order, although it still requires the charity to file accounts.
The Commission previously conducted an inquiry into the charity which concluded in March 2010, and which found it had claimed to raise over £1m, but had only actually raised £180,000.
The Commission said it could make no further comment while the investigation was ongoing. Civilsociety.co.uk contacted McKay but he was not available for comment.
This story was amended on 7th January 2013.
