Communities secretary Eric Pickles has bore the brunt of the criticism, after he released a statement to parliament urging government departments to introduce an "anti-lobbying, anti-sock puppet clause" when giving money to charities.
Mr. Pickles warned that charities could be stripped of government funding if they campaign against the government, citing a report released by the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, which suggested some charities were "sock puppet" organisations that received state money, but acted like lobby groups.
Mr. Pickles’ statement said that the report had "exposed the extensive practice of taxpayers’ money being given to pressure groups and supposed charities, in turn being used to lobby the government".
Holding Charities to Ransom
However this has been seen as an attempt to hold charities to ransom and silence groups that may be critical of certain government policies in the lead up May’s general election.
DCLG's attempt to stifle charity voice a definite media own goal and perhaps a significant #ge2015 dividing line https://t.co/5oWTYiGm5j
— Asheem Singh (@RobinAsheem) March 4, 2015
Sir Stephen Bubb, CEO of charity leaders group ACEVO, told Sputnik that the efforts were merely part of an attempt to get charities to "dance to the tune of government in an election year."
"It rests on an entirely false distinction between a charity delivering services and 'influencing'. Let’s be clear what influencing means here: charities must be free to speak about the injustices they see on the ground, whether they are contracting with government or not. And governments should be willing to listen, not close their ears to the effects of their policies."
Mr. Bubb also pointed that such moves could leave many charities unwilling to publicly criticise the government, potentially leading to many issues not being discussed in the public forum. He said:
"It would be a dereliction of duty for any charity, in the course of delivering its services, to not share its beneficiaries’ experiences with the wider world. Any politician committed to a bigger, better society should feel the same."
My #bubbsblog today about Eric Pickles and charity campaigning: http://t.co/4oBU5cDiMf
— Sir Stephen Bubb (@StephenBubb) March 3, 2015
On top of ACEVO, Britain’s National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has also raised concern about the precedent any such developments would set in reducing the voice of charities.
