The Charity Commission has reprimanded the Institute of Economic Affairs, a controversial think tank which has criticised other charities over campaigning, for press releases it sent out after the general election was announced.
A former Commission board member, Andrew Purkis, wrote to the regulator to complain about a press release posted on the IEA’s website which included ten proposals for the Conservative Manifesto.
The regulator then identified a second press release about the Labour Party’s manifesto pledges, which gave it cause for concern.
In its response to Purkis, the Commission says that both were considered to be “in breach of our published guidance on campaigning and political activities and charities and elections”. It says it has been in touch with the IEA, which has now removed the documents.
The Commission told Purkis that the IEA has reviewed all its content published since the election was announced and that it has put in place measures to ensure that “all future press releases are appropriately worded for an educational charity”.
A Charity Commission spokeswoman added: “Campaigning is an important part of the work of many charities. However, this case highlights the need for charities to ensure they remain within the law and regulation when doing so. In this case the Commission assessed the Institute of Economic Affair’s publications and concluded that they did breach our guidance on campaigning and political activity.
“We immediately issued formal regulatory advice requiring that the charity withdraw these publications and put in place measures to ensure this could not happen again. We will be monitoring the charity’s future activity to ensure it is compliant and will continue to take swift regulatory action against charities who fail to comply with our guidance on campaigning and political activity.”
Separately the Commission is assessing Purkis’ concerns that the IEA does not qualify for charitable status.
IEA response
In a statement the IEA said: “The IEA is particularly keen in this election period to underscore our strict non-partisan credentials, whilst also providing a rigorous analysis and commentary on the various policies advocated by all of the political parties in order to improve the public understanding of the role of free markets.
“We have taken independent legal advice on the matter and have chosen to remove from our website two items. This is not because of any misgivings about wrongdoing on the IEA’s part, but to ensure that our reputation as an independent educational charity is upheld.”
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