Extensions of Labour's syndicalist corporate state

Jon Trickett MP tells us that because "big" charities are complaining about funding issues that the Big Society is "going nowhere" http://www.jontrickett.org.uk/cameron-betraying-values-and-work-of-voluntary-and-community-sector/

This is a disingenuous argument.

It is unfortunate that during the thirteen years of Labour administration the third sector became co-opted to the delivery of socialist policies.  This has meant that the state-charity nexus has had to be unpicked, and inevitably this is painful for the charities involved.  But it is arrogant in the extreme for major charities to claim that they are identical to the Big Society.

In many ways during the period 1997-2010 big charities became extensions of Labour's syndicalist corporate state.

An illustration of this politicisation of charities can be seen in Save the Children, which a few weeks ago was claiming that children in the United Kingdom were starving and an urgent aid campaign had to be launched to "save" them - closer examination reveals that the charity is now under the control of New Labour apparatchiks who are using the charity as a platform for party politics.

The Save the Children report doesn't quite ring true

Charity Save the Children, an organisation normally active in third world countries countering famine and malnutrition, has announced a campaign to help children in the United Kingdom who are reportedly going without food.

A Save the Children report emphasises the shocking levels of deprivation that have overcome United Kingdom children:

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/child_poverty_2012.pdf

The announcement has been seized upon by left-wing commentators as an indictment of the current Coalition government.

Except that the Save the Children report doesn't quite ring true.

I take an interest in social issues, and regularly visit social housing estates in deprived areas. 

I also have relatives living in the rougher parts of Peckham, Bellingham and the Watling Estate in north London.

So far I have not had any feedback that children are starving in deprived parts of the country, nor that famine relief operations are necessary to "save the children".

Is it possible the Save the Children report and campaign is a scam?

That low-income families are experiencing hardship is undeniable, but Mehdi Hasan should ponder the thought that this has not just happened in the last 800 days but is a legacy of the incompetence of the last government - in many cases the poverty has been endemic over very long periods of time.

I am also suspicious of the fact that the Director of Programmes for Save the Children is Fergus Drake.

If you look at Mr Drake's record you can see that he was a Treasury adviser under the last government and then moved into a role working for The Office of Tony Blair, before "somehow" popping up as a Director of Save the Children.

Would you trust anything produced by a former adviser of Tony Blair?

WSPA

Very unsettling e-mail I received earlier today.

WSPA is one of the charities I support - I am appalled by the way animals are treated.

 

A society that is cruel to animals is a society that is invariably cruel to humans.

 

http://www.wspa.org.uk/

Question Time

From a press release:

“Brian May comes to Wales this week for Question Time

But apparently not.

So I have switched back to Newsnight.

Leprosy

Above: latest magazine from the Leprosy Mission.

Leprosy is a horrible disease, insidious in the way it spreads and devastating in the ruin it causes.

Untreated, it can lead to disability and blindness. In many parts of the world the disease is regarded with abhorrence, leading sufferers to experience isolation, prejudice and discrimination. Even in the United Kingdom the law treats leprosy sufferers unfairly.

Although there is no preventative vaccine available, leprosy can be cured with a multi-drug therapy.

Roughly a quarter of a million new patients are diagnosed each year, but many more do not seek treatment early enough because of the terrible social stigma they will experience.

Since it is possible to eradicate this disease entirely, it is unacceptable that more effort is not being made to do so. The British government should be supplying free multi-drug therapy wherever it is needed around the world, and also using diplomatic staff to engage with those countries that are not doing enough to end social exclusion of leprosy sufferers. The United Kingdom is a rich and relatively powerful nation, with considerable powers of organization and an extensive state health service that could be focussed outwards - would it be so expensive if we were to automatically enrol all leprosy sufferers, wherever they are in the world, into the NHS and give them a basic level of British diplomatic protection?

Generally you have to ask yourself - if we do not take up this cause, who will?

Campaign to end discrimination against leprosy sufferers in the United Kingdom:
http://www.leprosymission.org.uk/news_events/advocacy.aspx

Just on the subject of what should be Britain's role in the world, there was an interesting article in The Times today by Philip Collins. In my view one of the ways we can demonstrate leadership is by asserting as a fundamental human right access to health care free at the point of delivery. The NHS model may be represented throughout the world as "unaffordable" but somehow we manage to pay for it without too much trouble.

The Dog's Trust

The Dogs Trust (formerly the National Canine Defence League) is one of the oldest and largest animal welfare charities in the United Kingdom (founded in 1891). They are active in all sorts of areas – stopping cruelty to dogs, rescuing and re-homing dogs, prosecuting people who harm dogs, educating people about how to look after dogs, advising the government on dog issues, conducting research into dog behaviour etc. About sixteen thousand dogs are cared for every year by the Dogs Trust. Most of these dogs are looked after in a network of seventeen Re-Homing Centres, supported entirely by voluntary donations. No healthy dog is ever put down. England is known as "a nation of dog lovers" but the position of dogs is far from ideal. People who ill-treat dogs should be punished more severely; dog breeders need to be regulated more closely; and overseas countries need to be advised that the way dogs are treated around the world is an issue of British foreign policy concern. These are populist issues with wide public support, so it is surprising no main party has focused on dog welfare. More: http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/

Homeless people with dogs

Above: you often see homeless people with dogs – I took this picture last year in the area in front of Euston station where homeless people often congregate. One of the Dog's Trust projects is to give free veterinary care to dogs whose owners are homeless. They also advise hostels and day centres on admitting homeless people who have dogs. Every Christmas they help provide a dog-friendly shelter in London, and distribute parcels of Christmas food and treats for dogs owned by homeless people.