The Times today accused Friends of the Earth of “altering documents” and “deceiving” the Charity Commission, but the regulator said its guidance had not been contravened, and the charity described the story as "nonsense".
A front page article, published today in the Times, said that the charity deliberately altered “anti-fracking statements” made by a separate, non-charitable company called Friends of the Earth Limited. The Times also said that the charity lied to the Commission and said it was “no longer lobbying against drilling for shale gas”.
The article said that FoE “avoided rules restricting political activity” by informing the Commission that all anti-fracking campaign material had been carried out “solely by the Limited company since June” 2015. The article also said that, by “distancing” itself from the campaign, “it also avoided an investigation into allegations that it raised money by making false claims about fracking”.
Friends of the Earth has also been making alterations to its press releases, the Times said. It said the charity had changed the name of the organisation issuing a number of its press releases from: ‘Friends of the Earth Trust’ – the charity’s full name – to ‘Friends of the Earth Limited’.
A five week inquiry is to open today into applications by oil and gas exploration company Cuadrilla to drill and hydraulically fracture wells at two sites in Lancashire.
In October 2015, Cuadrilla made official complaints to both the Advertising Standards Authority and the Fundraising Standards Board about an anti-fracking leaflet that Friends of the Earth had produced and distributed. The leaflet claimed that “25 per cent of chemicals used during the fracking process cause cancer,” a claim that Cuadrilla said was “misleading to the public”.
A spokeswoman from the FRSB said that the complaint process was "still ongoing" but had not yet escalated beyond its stage 2 consultation process.
A spokesman for the Charity Commission said: “Charities have a right to campaign. When this campaigning becomes political, trustees must take care that it furthers the charity’s objectives and does not stray into party-political campaigning.
"Our investigation has revealed nothing to suggest Friends of the Earth Trust has contravened our guidance (CC9) on this issue. We are, however, aware that the lack of differentiation between some charitable and non-charitable bodies is of growing concern.
“We have therefore commenced a policy review on what can be done to avoid this difficulty in the future.
“We have an ongoing engagement with Friends of the Earth Trust, particularly regarding its relationship to the non-charitable company, Friends of the Earth Limited. We cannot comment further whilst this engagement continues.”
Friends of the Earth’s Mike Childs, head of science, policy & research, said: "This is a nonsense story designed to distract from the real threat of fracking. It is no surprise this story has appeared on the first day of public hearings which will decide whether Lancashire's rejection of fracking should be overturned by politicians in Westminster.
“Fracking poses a major threat to people and the environment. Local communities and businesses in Lancashire have already rejected fracking and we are campaigning alongside them to prevent their local democratic decisions from being overturned.
“These repeated attempts to silence and discredit those opposed to fracking is a ploy to distract from the well documented risks of fracking to our beautiful countryside, to the health of local people and to our climate."
