What have you done for charity asked a jolly tweet earlier this week? My answer? Rather more than I wanted to. I've worked really very hard and paid a lot of tax. Some of that tax has gone on Gift Aid (see my earlier blogs on the outrage that is Gift Aid). That's what I've done for charity.
Why is it more than I wanted to? Because all the money that has poured from taxpayer pockets into charitable pockets hasn't been used in ways that I much like. That's partly because a good number of charities do things that I don't consider to be priorities for a debt ridden state such as ours (supporting donkeys abroad and obsessing over red squirrel numbers).
I'd prefer that we paid out much, much less in Gift Aid, and were we to find any spare cash as a result, to spend it on better primary school education. But it is also because too many of the charities that do, on the face it work in areas it is hard to disapprove of, behave so badly (paying hundreds of staff more than the taxpayer pays George Osborne), and with such entitlement that it is time for a discussion about the strings attached to the taxpayer money they get their hands on too.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
We've been having this conversation here for some years now, but it has been thrown into pretty sharp relief by the death of Olive Cooke. Charitable fund-raising these days is, as Libby Purves points out in The Times, a big and merciless business.
Make one donation on your phone, respond to a chugger or waver during a cold call and that's it: you are committed to "life on that organisation's pitiless radar". Charity is, says Purves "up on a moral high horse, exploiting guilt and monetising pity, often spending lavishly on senior staff and flashy offices, addicted to sanctimonious political lobbying".It "is becoming a monster".
Indeed it is. At the beginning of the coalition term, Osborne had a go at reining in Gift Aid (the thing that really allows all this). He has more power now. It's time for another go.
-
Beating inflation takes more luck than skill – but are we about to get lucky?Opinion The US Federal Reserve managed to beat inflation in the 1980s. But much of that was down to pure luck. Thankfully, says Merryn Somerset Webb, the Bank of England may be about to get lucky.
-
Rishi Sunak can’t fix all our problems – so why try?Opinion Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement is an attempt to plaster over problems the chancellor can’t fix. So should he even bother trying, asks Merryn Somerset Webb?
-
Young people are becoming a scarce resource – we should value them more highlyOpinion In the last two years adults have been bizarrely unkind to children and young people. That doesn’t bode well for the future, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
Ask for a pay rise – everyone else isOpinion As inflation bites and the labour market remains tight, many of the nation's employees are asking for a pay rise. Merryn Somerset Webb explains why you should do that too.
-
Why central banks should stick to controlling inflationOpinion The world’s central bankers are stepping out of their traditional roles and becoming much more political. That’s a mistake, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
How St Ives became St Tropez as the recovery drives prices sky highOpinion Merryn Somerset Webb finds herself at the epicentre of Britain’s V-shaped recovery as pent-up demand flows straight into Cornwall’s restaurants and beaches.
-
The real problem of Universal Basic Income (UBI)Merryn's Blog April employment numbers showed 75 per cent fewer people in the US returned to employment compared to expectations. Merryn Somerset-Webb explains how excessive government support is causing a shortage of labour.
-
Why an ageing population is not necessarily the disaster many people think it isOpinion We’ve got used to the idea that an ageing population is a bad thing. But that’s not necessarily true, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
