Change for charities

As new revelations continue to emerge about the scandal-ridden aid sector, it’s time for Britain to reassess its charities. Crises will always require generosity and intervention – and no one denies that various established charities have done enormous good. But the sector is pickled in aspic and dominated by giant organisations propped up by government money. Oligopolies never function in the public interest.

It’s time for more competition, and for a new generation of charity entrepreneurs to break through and revolutionise the way aid is delivered. The Government’s role is partly to step back, by scrapping the ridiculous 0.7 per cent aid target, making charities once again more responsive to their real individual donors; and also to ensure that what aid it does hand out goes to organisations that can genuinely be trusted with public funds.

Charities of the future must cut out waste, end their open politicisation, stop squandering cash on lobbying, and cease virtue-signalling. Rather than creating vast bureaucratic structures that enable activists to manage the poor, they should put money – and power – directly into the hands of the needy. Technology should be utilised. And there must be an emphasis upon helping others to help themselves. In most parts of the developing world, the problem is a dearth of capitalism, poor governance and conflict.

The fact that the motivations of the charity industry can be good doesn’t protect it from scrutiny – as various religious and political organisations can attest. On the contrary, the claim to be acting in the interests of others means standing up for a higher moral standard that many will judge has not in these cases been met.