Readers may know that I keep detailed audits on charity spending in my Resources section (available to Paid Subscribers):

I have recently updated my list of ALL taxpayer-funded charities and the total comes to a huge £1.8 BILLION!

Bear in mind that this accounts for 50 charities alone (over the last five tax years) and there are over 170k in total registered on the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

I have been dividing charity spending by theme, including asylum and migration…

… think tanks…

… and the arts:

Other resources include:

• The 10 most expensive Foreign Office grants in 2023–24

• List of countries that can vote in UK elections

• The Red-Green alliance: how the British Left organises

Remember this when the Government next brings up “austerity”!

From 2024:

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Yesterday the activist group “People Against Genocide” broke into an Israeli drone factory in Leicester.

Footage of the break-in was posted on the Instagram feed of something called The Aftershock, which describes itself as “a publisher and media distributor of global actions for Palestine.” It wrote:

“BREAKING: 'People Against Genocide' have abseiled through the roof of Elbit's Israeli drone factory in Leicester.

“Once they descended, they began to break through the clean room used to assemble necessary components for Israeli military drones.

“Contaminating a clean room can put it out of use for several months.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of this post was its end line:

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Earlier this month, Helen Earner, Director of Regulatory Services at the Charity Commission, accused journalists like me of spreading “online misinformation” by accurately reporting on the activities of the charity City of Sanctuary UK.

To recap, in late 2025 I covered the fact that the charity had been encouraging children to make Valentine’s cards for asylum seekers.

After it received multiple complaints from MPs and others worried about the scheme, the Charity Commission launched a compliance case into City of Sanctuary’s activities – ultimately concluding that there was nothing to see here.

As a statement by the regulator put it, these Valentine’s Day cards were merely “heart-shaped general messages of welcome to refugees” (as if that’s any better) to be displayed in schools and at a “separate charity supporting refugees for display in its premises”.

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Yesterday, Stella Creasy, the Silent Disco Queen and Labour & Co-op MP for Walthamstow, was thrilled to welcome Sir Sadiq Khan to her borough:

And not just any borough; Walthamstow is “a borough of sanctuary”, don’t you know…

Unfortunately this means it is working with the ghastly open-border charity City of Sanctuary UK.

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Today Professor Mariana Mazzucato, the economist whose UCL department received $3 MILLION in 2020 from George Soros, received high praise indeed from Ed Miliband.

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero said she was "the Godmother of missions” in a speech hosted by the (ghastly-sounding) Good Growth Foundation.

Posting about Miliband’s kind words, Mazzucato wrote:

“Great speech by Ed Miliband. Not sure about being called the “Godmother of missions” (ha!), but thanks for the recognition of our work at IIPP UCL [UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose] on mission-oriented government. Spain demonstrates what the UK’s Clean Power mission can achieve: a gas price cap, accelerated renewables rollout, and wholesale electricity prices 57% below the European average.”

Mazzucato, in case you didn’t know, is the economist who inspired Keir Starmer’s “missions” (the ones that are going sooooo well….).

Never has anyone been so obsessed with the word “mission” (not even Tom Cruise). Let’s just say, if there was a drinking game where you had to down a shot every time she said the word, you’d be dead in five minutes and Putin would be able to use parts of your body for chemical warfare.

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David Lammy has been very quiet indeed about his attendance at the Global Progressive Mobilisation summit in Spain.

At the time of writing, there’s still nothing on his X feed about this huge conference of socialist minds:

He has, at least, posted on Instagram, writing:

“Across borders and backgrounds, people came together with a shared purpose: standing up for democracy, justice, and peace in a world that needs it more than ever.

“Grateful to Pedro Sánchez for creating the space to come together.

“There’s real power in collective action, in choosing solidarity over division, and progress over complacency.”

This is the same Sánchez whose wife was recently charged with corruption after a two-year investigation.

As the BBC put it:

“Gómez is accused of using her relationship to advance her private career through a position at Madrid’s Complutense University. She is also accused of using public resources to advance private interests.

“She was charged with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds, the ruling said. It is now up to the courts to decide whether she will stand trial.”

How’s that for “democracy” and “justice”?

Lammy posted five photos in total from the conference.

I just wonder why Alex Soros didn’t make the cut, as he himself was clearly keen to show off their meet up:

Never mind Amor Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados - who thinks that the UK owes $24tn in reparations.

Why doesn’t our Deputy Prime Minister want us to know about his famous friends?!

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Over the weekend, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was at the Global Progressive Summit in Barcelona with Alex Soros and Mia Amor Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados - who thinks that the UK owes $24tn in reparations.

Posting about the event, Alex Soros wrote:

“It was an honor to welcome so many incredible leaders and advocates to Barcelona for the inaugural Global Progressive Summit — a first-of-its-kind gathering that brought together thousands from over 100 countries and organizations.

“For the first time, partners including Progressive Alliance, Global Progress, and the Party of European Socialists came together under one roof, alongside a broad coalition of movements and leaders committed to advancing a more just and democratic future.”

This post is free to read. Fund my independent journalism by taking out a subscription or making a donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Thank you to everyone who has funded my work.

Soros Junior posted a photo of himself with Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain and President of Socialist International, whose wife was recently charged with corruption after a two-year criminal investigation. Lammy was also photographed embracing Sánchez; how lovely!

Sánchez spearheaded the conference and had a lot to say about “the far right”. In one speech he warned:

“No matter how much they shout. Nor how many lies they invent. The time of the international ultraright has come to its end.”

In another he said: “‘Spain is the daughter of migration, it won't be the mother of discrimination’” (what a catchy phrase…)

Others in attendance included Tim Walz, the Governor of Minnesota (and, of course, Kamala Harris’s pick for VP of the US in the 2024 presidential election)…

… the Mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, albeit via webcam…

… ditto for Hillary Clinton…

… and Professor Mariana Mazzucato, the world’s worst economist, who inspired Keir Starmer’s so-called “missions”, and whose UCL department has received $3 million from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations.

She never misses an opportunity to travel for work, despite constantly banging on about climate change (it’s different for her, you see).

The first of its kind, the Global Progressive Mobilisation conference brought together “progressives from over 72 countries”…

... some sporting hats reading “MAKE LOVE NOT FASCISM”:

Despite the size of the event, it has received barely any coverage from the UK media, and David Lammy certainly hasn’t flagged his attendance.

Interestingly, at the time of writing, Lammy’s X and Instagram feeds contain no mention of the conference…

Doesn’t he want us to know about his involvement in “the global mobilisation of progressive forces”? as Socialist International put it.

This post is free to read. Fund my independent journalism by taking out a subscription or making a donation on Buy Me a Coffee. Thank you to everyone who has funded my work.

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Today is Ben & Jerry's “Free Cone Day”, where it will be “giving away free ice cream at a host of locations between 12pm and 8pm”.

“Don’t forget to tell your friends!”, it adds.

It all sounds rather lovely until you realise Ben & Jerry’s true agenda, which is to encourage young people to register to vote.

Indeed, Ben & Jerry’s is giving out free ice cream as part of a campaign with My Life My Say, a youth democracy charity with plenty of Labour links.

An Instagram post by My Life My Say explains: “We’re one week away from National Voter Registration Day which means there are only 7 days left to register to vote in time for the upcoming May elections 🗳️”

“On our mission to get all young people registered and ready, we’ve got a huge week ahead 👀”

“🍦Tomorrow - Catch us at Free Cone Day with @benandjerrysuk at their Edinburgh, London and Peterborough locations!”

Another post from five days ago reads:

“#GiveAnX at FREE CONE DAY 🍦

“Ben & Jerry’s UK are celebrating their Free Cone Day on April 14th and once again, My Life My Say and the Give an X campaign will be there to help spread the word about the upcoming local and devolved elections 📣

”We’ll be in Soho, Peterborough & Edinburgh (they’re also doing Free Cone Day at their Brighton and Windsor Scoop Shops 👀) on April 14th! Come by for some free ice cream and support our mission to get young people into polling booths at the May elections 🗳️

”#RegisterToVote”

It should leave people in no doubt about the nature of Ben & Jerry’s generosity.

On its own Instagram page, Ben & Jerry’s has been encouraging people to register for local elections.

“Want to live in a place that takes proper care of refugees, or people experiencing homelessness or mental health? Your vote gives the cues”, reads one of its graphics.

The volume of posts about voter registration suggests it’s quite concerned about the results…

Nothing a free ice cream can’t sort out, ey!

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Today it was announced that David Lammy will be speaking at the “Global Progressive Mobilisation” conference in Barcelona, taking place on April 17-18th.

He’ll be joined by Mia Amor Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados, who thinks that the UK owes $24tn in reparations to 14 countries affected by transatlantic slavery - and that Barbados is owed $4.9tn (£3.9tn) in total by slave-owning nations.

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Yesterday you may have spotted Sadiq Khan complaining about London facing a “dark blizzard of disinformation”, a claim that is complete BS to anyone who has eyes, ears and no agenda.

Khan had been speaking at the “Cambridge Disinformation Summit”, a conference I had never heard of before, but turns out to be very ghastly indeed.

Last year, for instance, it was frequented by Marianna Spring of BBC Verify:

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“Regulator finds no evidence that refugee charity engaged in inappropriate activity”, read a press release by the Charity Commission for England and Wales yesterday, after it closed its compliance case into City of Sanctuary UK.

The Commission looked into “concerns… over the charity’s activities in schools, including the claim that school children were being encouraged to send Valentine’s Day cards to adult asylum seekers. This allegation had been circulating online and was also reported in the media.”

“Following a detailed review and a meeting with the charity’s trustees”, the Charity Commission said it “did not find evidence to support these allegations”, adding that City of Sanctuary UK had faced “a misinformation campaign, including threats to charity trustees and staff, in relation to the Valentine’s Day card allegations.”

I don’t know anything about these “threats”. But I dispute the idea that the charity “faced a misinformation campaign” - certainly not from me. I was first to write up the story, and my coverage was packed with screenshots and literature to evidence City of Sanctuary UK’s activities:

In my article above, for instance, I showed a screenshot of a Schools Activity Pack put together by City of Sanctuary UK (its Schools of Sanctuary Team and Together with Refugees). Here it is:

The screenshot makes clear that the charity:

• encouraged schools to “Show your heart for refugees on Valentine’s Day”

• described these as “cards” (“You can then display these cards at your school”; and

• laid out a method that meant cards could be sent to “people seeking sanctuary” (by which the charity means asylum seekers/ refugees): “You can then display these cards at your school or send them to your local refugee organisation to share with people seeking sanctuary.”

However, the Charity Commission gives a rather abridged interpretation of events, claiming the cards were merely “heart-shaped general messages” that may go up for display in a charity’s premises:

“Heart-shaped general messages of welcome to refugees were displayed in schools, with some sent to a separate charity supporting refugees for display in its premises. The trustees explained that at no point did children write cards to individual adult asylum seekers or refugees.”

Despite the Charity Commission’s abridged account, Helen Earner, Director of Regulatory Services at the Charity Commission, said:

“concerns about the charity’s work were fuelled by online misinformation, something charities are increasingly subject to and a concern for us as regulator. While we can’t fact check every concern about every charity, sometimes the high profile of allegations means it is right for us to set the record straight where allegations cannot be substantiated.”

But where is this online misinformation?

It is certainly not in my coverage.

What’s worse is that the Charity Commission concludes there’s no issue with children making “Heart-shaped general messages of welcome to refugees”, which “did not amount to a breach of charities’ obligation to remain independent of party-political bias.” Will parents around the UK agree? That’s if they even know about the extent of City of Sanctuary UK’s Valentine efforts, including children making Valentine’s cards for their MP.

The Commission’s futile review helps to explain why the charity sector is in such a mess.

Last week, the charity City of Sanctuary announced recipients of its “Sanctuary Awards programme”, which “recognises and celebrates the organisations and institutions who go above and beyond to foster welcome, understanding and opportunity”. One of these was the University of Cambridge, now an accredited “University of Sanctuary” – something that the institution has been keen to show off on its website.

On the surface, the accreditation makes Cambridge (and any others receiving a “Sanctuary Award”) look kind and compassionate. The university’s webpage about its award has a photograph of a handful of refugees, making the City of Sanctuary programme look as if it helps a manageable number of people, not (in reality) being designed to turn the UK into an open-border state.

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