In the last 15 years, state funding of charities in Britain has increased significantly. 27,000 charities are now dependent on the government for more than 75 per cent of their income and the ‘voluntary sector’ receives more money from the state than it receives in voluntary donations.It looks something like this.
Clever, isn't it?
You see, they were part of the Smokefree Coalition - who certainly did receive financial assistance from the government - which bullied through the smoking ban, but that doesn't invalidate their claim as it wasn't paid to them directly.
They also specifically mention 'research', to tie in with their corporate merger-led brand identity.
Of course, we know that they don't just involve themselves in such activities. They have a tobacco advisory group as well as political specialists in advancing legislation towards banning sun beds and introducing daft policies such as minimum alcohol pricing.
They are currently spending much donated cash trying to get plain packaging of tobacco past gullible MPs and recently spunked £56k - raised by well-meaning women running around a field - to advance an inept anti-tobacco vanity project by the University of Bath (and a Dutch political activist) which can't even get its facts straight.
No matter their protestations, it's still undeniable that the country's biggest charity-related business (yes, business) - complete with stratospherically-remunerated executives - spend only 69p of each pound on what donors expect, while indulging themselves in activities which have sod all to do with 'research'.
It's not so much what they receive by dubious means, as what they do with donated cash which is the problem.
If you want to 'support the work' of an entity happy to see your charity donations going on political projects which have nothing to do with 'researching' cancer - and which may be the opposite of your views - knock yourself out. Personally, I'll give my cash to charities which are less disingenuous, less focussed on political revelry, and preferably local.
Nice to see that they're suitably rattled by the IEA's report, mind.
