When looking at new issues arising on freedom of speech in this country I came across a really excellent blog post that summarised exactly why the government is wrong to impose new gagging clauses on charities. Written by Andrew Purkis, it is entitled:
The Rotten Basis for Government Anti-Advocacy Policy
and is subtitled:
The Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) “evidence” base for the Government's anti-advocacy clamp-down on charities' use of public funds is a muddled Tea Party-type polemic.
It makes for compelling reading and tears apart the evidence base for this change.
I would also recommend Andrew Purkis' follow up letter to the Cabinet Office, which says in its conclusion
So please be honest. Please do not reinforce what you know to be an incomplete stereotype of what the contribution of charities is. Do not speak of [their work in] influencing [policy] as if it were a diversion from good causes and improving people's lives. In one example after another, [that work] is in truth, and always has been, an integral and essential part of pursuing charitable causes and changing people's lives for the better.
That is exactly right.
So why would you want to stop charities doing that?
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An excellent demolition job – yet an appalling reflection on the quality of government that it has to be done at all.
Because it helps to sustain an inequitable status quo with those that have funding services for those who do not without having to ever see themselves as part of the problem. It is something we have been arguing about in the international aid sector for years and an interesting report published a few years ago shows how badly the sector has done in educating the public about the causes of global poverty http://findingframes.org/report.htm. Even though it is a few years old not much has changed. I believe, the coalition put a block on aid being spent on development education in the UK soon after it came to power.