In preparation for writing this, I searched online for a pithy quote about predictions. Given that we are on the cusp of a new year, I thought it could provide a suitable introduction.
However, I ended up going down a Google rabbit hole about the number of well-known quotes that are misattributed. Some very famous and eminently quotable individuals (for example, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and Mark Twain) fall foul to this quite often. It turns out that it has been going on for years and has become more widespread as the internet (in particular, inspirational memes on social media) has helped to spread these further.
There is a Clement Attlee quote that sometimes does the rounds when charity, tax and politics are being debated on social media. It is: “Charity is a cold, grey loveless thing. If a rich man wants to help the poor, he should pay his taxes gladly, not dole out money at a whim.”
However, this quote also falls into the misattributed category. It was not Attlee that said this, but his biographer, Francis Beckett, who was trying to summarise Attlee’s views, as presented in his 1920 publication the Social Worker.
Whatever your view on how much tax the wealthiest in society should pay (or whether it is an accurate summary of Attlee’s views), it does ignore so much of what charity does and how it benefits our society.
Much has been made of the current Labour leader’s desire to have a good relationship with the charity sector – which could be seen as a signal that his views differ from Attlee’s.
Taken alone, the recent budget did not reinforce this though. National insurance increases will hit many charities hard. Public sector bodies are to be excluded but not charities.
It will be hoped that as we enter a new year, the government will make good on its word to work with the charity sector. What that relationship will look like in 12 months is anybody’s guess.
For, as somebody (Danish physicist Niels Bohr? Film producer Samuel Goldwyn? It turns out, despite being regularly credited to both of these, it probably is a Danish proverb whose author is unknown) once said: “It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.”
Tristan Blythe is editor of Charity Finance
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