Andrew Hind is concerned that the government's behaviour towards civil society could threaten the voluntary sector's legacy from the First World War.
4 August 1914; 10 August 1916; and 19 September 2014. What is the link between these three dates?
Following last month’s commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, the first date shouldn’t cause you any difficulty.
Most readers will also be familiar with the fact that the Somme offensive began on 1 July 1916. A few weeks later – on 10 August – Edward Birchall died there on his 32nd birthday.
What makes Birchall stand out from the other one million men, from all sides, who were wounded or killed in that futile battle – and the 8.5 million who perished over the four years of the war – is that he had a passion for voluntary action, and left a legacy of £1,000 to set up an organisation for the promotion of voluntary services.
We know that because Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, wrote a letter to Birchall last month as part of the ‘1914-18 letter to an unknown soldier’ project.
But why Sir Stuart? Well, because Birchall’s legacy founded the National Council of Social Services in 1919, later to become NCVO.
In his letter, Sir Stuart wrote: “It is bittersweet that the war which took so much also spurred people on to give so much. Nearly 18,000 charities were founded in the years 1914-18. Your legacy helped to establish the voluntary sector in this country.”
Our generation has a responsibility to protect and nurture the fundamental tenets of voluntary action which Birchall, and so many others of his time, wanted to see – in Sir Stuart’s words – “promoted and legitimised”.
But an increasing number of observers are beginning to feel that we aren’t making a very good job of it.
Last month, Danny Sriskandarajah, director-general of Civicus (the South Africa-based international alliance dedicated to strengthening civil action around the world), published an open letter calling for a debate about how large, professional charities should “get back to their roots”.
He suggested that large charities have become too integrated with the worlds of politics and business to be able to effectively challenge them, and that increasing income and staff numbers have resulted in them having a reduced appetite for risk-taking.
Perpetuating injustice
To many poor people, says the Civicus letter, charities around the world “have become just another layer of the system that perpetuates injustice”.
It is in that context that recent changes in the environment in which civil society operates in this country are a matter of deep concern. Instead of doing what it can to stimulate an active civil society in the UK, our government seems intent on neutering it.
What other conclusion can one reach on the evidence of the past couple of years? We have seen gagging clauses in public service contracts; proposed changes to the rules on judicial review which will seriously damage the ability of charities to stand up for their client groups; and the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 – to give the already-infamous Lobbying Act its full name.
Guidance from the Electoral Commission published over the summer failed to dispel the sector’s concerns about the new Act. By not making it crystal clear that the normal campaigning activities of charities will not be restricted by this legislation, government ministers should be ashamed of themselves.
And when do the provisions of the Lobbying Act come into force? You’ve guessed it – the 19th of this month.
That’s no way to honour the memory of Edward Birchall, and the millions of other servicemen who died in the name of freedom a century ago.
