The Charity Commission has been criticised by campaigners after an organisation accused of antisemitism registered with the regulator earlier this year.
Cricklewood Muslim Youth Trust (CMYT) registered as a charity in January despite the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) previously raising concerns with the Commission about the organisation’s social media activity.
CAA complained to the regulator about a social media post by CMYT in December 2021, screenshotted by the National Secular Society (NSS), which read “Keep away from the enemies of Allaah [sic] the Jews & Christians” and appears to have since been deleted.
In response to the complaint, the Commission reportedly informed CMYT, which was not registered at the time, of its “requirement to register as a charity and about compliance with the legal duties of trustees”.
CAA and the NSS both criticised the regulator’s response to the complaint, with the former saying it was “extraordinary that the Charity Commission should consider such an organisation fit for charitable status”.
The Commission told Civil Society that charity registration is a matter of law and that it had determined that CMYT met the legal test for charitable status and should therefore be registered.
FOI request
NSS reported that it submitted a freedom of information request to the Commission, asking whether it had known about the CMYT’s social media activity prior to it registering as a charity.
It said the Commission initially refused to answer as doing so could “lead to negative perceptions of charities” and only published the information when the NSS escalated the case to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
NSS campaigns officer Alejandro Sanchez said: “The Charity Commission’s reaction to complaints about antisemitism at this organisation was to request it to officially register as a charity. This demonstrates something is wrong at the heart of charity law.
“Groups which promote antisemitic or misogynistic ideology should not be given the ‘seal of approval’ of charitable status, let alone the associated tax benefits.
“The inclusion of ‘the advancement of religion’ as a recognised charitable purpose is the fundamental problem. The government must now urgently review charity law which is resulting in taxpayer money subsidising this kind of ideology.”
CAA response
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Less than two years ago, the Cricklewood Muslim Youth Trust was using its Twitter account to implore the Muslim community to stay away from Jews and Christians and regard them as an enemy.
“It is extraordinary that the Charity Commission should consider such an organisation fit for charitable status.
“The Commission’s reported reluctance to show the utmost transparency in such a case, which clearly risks bringing the charitable sector into disrepute and divide communities, is gravely concerning.”
Regulator: Organisation meets legal test
A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “Organisations that meet the legal test for charitable status must, by law, register with the Commission.
“The Commission therefore has a responsibility to ensure relevant organisations make an application, so we can assess their status and enter them onto the register of charities where they qualify.
“In the case of the Cricklewood Muslim Youth Trust, we determined that the organisation meets this legal test for charitable status and should be registered.
“Trustees of registered charities must continuously meet their legal duties and responsibilities as set out under charity law. We assess concerns raised about any registered charity and take regulatory action as appropriate.”
CMYT has yet to respond to request to Civil Society’s request for comment.
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