Charities should avoid being distracted by culture wars, outgoing Charity Commission chair Orlando Fraser has said in one of his final interviews before leaving his role.
Fraser, who is stepping down on 25 April, told the Times that the commission gets a lot of complaints about charities’ “wokery” but these usually fall outside of its regulatory remit.
“But if a charity decides it’s not so much a charity but an engine for social progress, we can step in,” he is quoted as saying.
“Rainbow lanyards for National Trust employees is not something we would intervene on.
“But trustees have to consider their charity’s reputation and be careful. If they go too far, they could find they lose support. Museums and galleries need to think about their labelling.
“Charities would do best to avoid being distracted by the culture wars, calm down and focus on sticking to their core purposes.”
Meanwhile, the commission has defended Fraser’s interim replacement, Mark Simms, after the Daily Mail published an article accusing him of “partisanship”.
Politicisation of charities
Fraser, who has been the commission’s chair since 2022, told the newspaper his most challenging task had been to control the politicisation of charities.
“When I arrived, there was a lot of uncertainty and argument about overt political campaigning. I decided to set clear boundaries,” he is quoted as saying.
“Political campaigning can happen in furtherance of your services, but it must be done in a measured, respectful way, not like the aggression you see in politics.
“That seems to have dialled down the temperature and halved complaints.”
In his interview, Fraser was asked whether arts organisations should focus on correcting past evils such as slavery among their original donors.
“It all depends on how it is done. I don’t think most people are anti-British or anti-our past history,” he is quoted as saying.
“I went out with some of our aid charities to Romania and I saw a great pride in what this country does in international aid.”
Interim chair criticised for old social media posts
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reported yesterday that P3 Charity chief executive Simms previously posted about politicians on social media, including praise for Labour MP Jess Phillips and criticism of former prime minister Boris Johnson.
The article includes a comment from shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who said: “When we’ve got charities accused of links to the Iranian regime and spreading extremism, the work of the Charity Commission must be beyond reproach.”
In response, the commission stated that Simms made the standard declarations during his appointment, which included that he had no “significant political activity” in the past five years.
A spokesperson for the regulator told Civil Society: “The Charity Commission is fair, balanced and independent in its regulation of charities.
“Mark has been a member of the board for two years and has a very clear understanding of the role and its responsibilities.”
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