David Cameron ‘Flouting’ Charity Rules, Labour Says
Labour hits back in the war over think-tanks' charitable status.
Labour has accused the Prime Minister of “flouting” rules put in place to ensure charities are politically impartial as part of a growing row over the charitable status of think tanks who come up with policies for political parties.
In a letter seen by BuzzFeed, the opposition party said comments by David Cameron at a private party for the influential centre-right think tank Policy Exchange showed he was engaged in an “outrageous” breach of charity regulations.
The accusation was made by Labour MP Sheila Gilmore in a letter to Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke.
Elphicke had previously made a complaint to the Charity Commission about Labour’s close relationship with the centre-left IPPR think tank, saying it is "a warping of the independence of charities".
Like many think tanks, both Policy Exchange and IPPR are registered charities, which comes with financial benefits but also means they are not allowed to support political parties and must remain impartial.
“A sitting Prime Minister openly admitting that he directly lifts, adopts and implements a Charity's policies goes far beyond an Opposition considering independent reports as part of a review process,” Gilmore wrote.
“In your letter you quoted Charity Commission guidance, which states, 'charities must never support political parties', and yet it appears that the Conservative Party and Policy Exchange are in contravention of these very rules.”
She said the Tory MP should either report David Cameron to the Charity Commission, or withdraw his complaint against the Labour Party.
In a speech to guests at the party last month, the Prime Minister admitted that the registered charity had a major role in developing Conservative Party policy and contributed to its manifesto.
David Cameron also told attendees at the event that he wanted “to thank you very seriously for the policies”.
“Thank you for what you do at Policy Exchange: you give us the intellectual fuel for our tank. We need you to put as much intellectual fuel into our tank and into our manifesto.”
Cameron told guests at the party that "You're a charity so I probably can't go any further than that.”
Gilmore said this was evidence that the Prime Minister “seems aware of the very rules he is flouting”.
A spokesperson for Policy Exchange told BuzzFeed its research was available to all parties equally.
"We are happy to give intellectual fuel to any party that wants to take forward our ideas. Our research goes to all parties and it doesn’t matter to us which one (or more) decides to take it forward to improve public policy," he said.