Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has launched an attack on charities, claiming they are being taken over by “professional campaigners” articulating a “left-wing vision”.

Writing in the popular tabloid the Daily Mail, Grayling warned that professional campaigners were “taking over charities” as well as dominating the BBC and Westminster to articulate a “left-wing vision which is neither affordable nor deliverable”.

His critique of campaigning charities comes as the government attempts to pass lobbying legislation which charities fear could restrict their ability to campaign on critical issues. 

“In the charity sector, a whole range of former advisers from the last government can be found in senior roles,” Grayling said. “While charities inundate Westminster with campaign material, they also target the legal system as a way of trying to get their policies accepted.”

Grayling noted that in the 1970s, when judicial reviews began, there were just a few hundred cases, whereas now there were thousands.

“By launching a judicial review, a project can be delayed by months or even years,” he said.

He continued: “Of course the judicial review system is an important way to right wrongs, but it is not a promotional tool for countless left-wing campaigners. So that is why we are publishing proposals for change.”

Following a consultation on legal aid, the government plans to consult further on revised proposals to discourage “weak judicial review cases by tightening up the payment mechanisms”.

Elsewhere, Labour amendments to the lobbying bill which would have required many charities to join a lobbying register, have been defeated in the House of Commons. Tonight, MPs will debate part two of the lobbying bill, which many groups have called to be scrapped, as it contains clauses which they fear will "gag" civil society groups.