Cut this ludicrous state-funded do-goodery

It’s time to cut the size of the charitable sector, abolish gift aid and take a good hard look at what we think should be funded by the taxpayer at all, says Merryn Somerset Webb.

151217-donkeys

Anyone who wants to finance donkey sanctuaries can do so. Just out of their post-tax income.

I've written here pretty relentlessly over the last few years about the great financial scandal that is the charity sector. You can read my thoughts here, here and here. You might also watch this video with Alex Perry which explains what happens to much of the money you give to aid charities abroad.

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.