Although I find these reports interesting and the research admirable, I do wonder what in the end it achieves, is raising awareness enough, job done next case, or is there something we should be doing with all this information? That it seems is the question.
Shining a light on all this stuff is very interesting but I wonder what you’re suggesting flows from it? Are you suggesting that these organisations should be banned? Surely not!
I’ve said several times in my responses to your posts that we should in many ways admire the industry and inventiveness that these lefties put into promoting their causes, regardless of the fact that we deplore them. If only the political right had an equivalent level of zeal!
The one question that arises that does warrant fruitful investigation is funding.
As a starting point no political campaigning groups of this or any other flavour should be getting taxpayer support. That is a scandal and stopping it is an easy win. But it is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Should we consider banning overseas donations to U.K. political campaigning groups with a view to addressing the likes of Soros & Gates? You could certainly make an argument here but it’s still only chipping away; it’s much more difficult, in my view, to say that U.K. based foundations such as Joseph Rowntree should be prevented from using their endowments to promote causes which are (I assume) in accordance with their foundational objectives. But where organisations have official charitable status, and therefore benefit from tax reliefs and gift aid, there may be grounds for objections.
So while we can probably do something legitimately to restrict the funding taps, and we should certainly overhaul charity law, ultimately I think that what you reveal is just a clear lesion to the right: try harder, because if you don’t the zeal of the left will overwhelm you.
Although I find these reports interesting and the research admirable, I do wonder what in the end it achieves, is raising awareness enough, job done next case, or is there something we should be doing with all this information? That it seems is the question.
Shining a light on all this stuff is very interesting but I wonder what you’re suggesting flows from it? Are you suggesting that these organisations should be banned? Surely not!
I’ve said several times in my responses to your posts that we should in many ways admire the industry and inventiveness that these lefties put into promoting their causes, regardless of the fact that we deplore them. If only the political right had an equivalent level of zeal!
The one question that arises that does warrant fruitful investigation is funding.
As a starting point no political campaigning groups of this or any other flavour should be getting taxpayer support. That is a scandal and stopping it is an easy win. But it is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Should we consider banning overseas donations to U.K. political campaigning groups with a view to addressing the likes of Soros & Gates? You could certainly make an argument here but it’s still only chipping away; it’s much more difficult, in my view, to say that U.K. based foundations such as Joseph Rowntree should be prevented from using their endowments to promote causes which are (I assume) in accordance with their foundational objectives. But where organisations have official charitable status, and therefore benefit from tax reliefs and gift aid, there may be grounds for objections.
So while we can probably do something legitimately to restrict the funding taps, and we should certainly overhaul charity law, ultimately I think that what you reveal is just a clear lesion to the right: try harder, because if you don’t the zeal of the left will overwhelm you.