The Conservative Party is deeply suspicious of civil society despite wanting to be charitable, Stephen Doughty MP tells Labour Party Conference fringe.
Doughty, Labour and Co-operative MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, was speaking at the event on Rethinking International Development, which was put on jointly by Charities Aid Foundation and the Barrow Cadbury Trust. The event asked the question "Can growing civil society abroad help secure Britain's international influence?"
He said: "There is a real stark contrast about the approach we took as a Labour government in the way we wrapped things in DFID. Both in support for NGOs here and in developing countries directly.
"It is very different from the approach we've seen from the Tories because in reality they are deeply, deeply suspicious of civil society, both here and abroad. And this sort of bears itself out in many different ways."
He questioned why they were so suspicious, adding that they were very charitable and generous, and that a lot of DFID's current policies, such as Aid Match, is all about making money go further, which he says is "fantastic".
Justice
But Doughty, who has previously worked for Oxfam, said it comes back to the idea of justice.
He said: "But for me the big divide has always been understanding of charity versus understanding of justice. We can all give and do fantastic work but fundamentally you come to a point of asking why are people living in these situations? Why are people living in poverty? Why is climate change ruining lives? Why has HIV and AIDs spread in the pandemic way it has? These come back to questions of justice."
He likened the scenario to a metaphor he said he heard from a former boss, who said that you should treat poverty as this big ditch in ground.
"We can throw rocks into it which starts to fill it up and that does some good, but actually there is a JCB on the edge of the ditch digging it out. What you need to do is get in the cab and turn the engine off," he said.
Doughty said that it is about "not just delivering an immediate response to poverty and injustice but also changing structures, economics, and inequalities."
He said: "For me there is a big distinction between a Labour approach to these issues and a Tory approach, which is one of charity versus justice. And obviously I want to see justice."
Doughty was speaking on the panel alongside Roberta Blackman-Woods MP, shadow minister for international development, and former shadow minister for civil society, as well as Lord Collins of Highbury, opposition spokesperson for International Development and Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It included Adam Pickering, international policy manager at CAF, and was chaired by Sara Llewelin, chief executive of the Barrow Cadbury Trust.
Lobbying Act 'regressive'
The panel were widely in agreement about the need for reform of the Lobbying Act and expressed disappointment that the recommendations made in Lord Hodgson's review will not be acted on. Pickering said that these actions could be seen as "being regressive".
Lord Collins of Highbury said: "The party responsible for the Lobbying Act has caused many important voices to be lost from the public debate.
"I want to see the long overdue reforms from the Hodgson review being implemented. I think those are the minimum changes we should see."
Religious charities an issue within government
A question from the audience asked the panel if the "systematic targeting of Muslim charities is an early indication of that slippery slope of restrictive civil society?"
In response, Doughty said "Is it deliberate and systematic? I'm not entirely sure, but there does seem to be an unreasonable additional level of suspicion of organisations with anything to do with Islam or Muslim in their name. It is wrong, an organisation should be judged on their standards.
"I think there is an issue there. But there is a wider issue within government about religious organisations more generally."
|
Civil Society Media is hosting its NGO Insight 2017 conference on 28 November 2017. For more information, and to book, click here. |
Related articles
