Most charities “dabble in politics way too much”, a former government minister has said.
Guy Opperman, who was a pensions minister for five years until last month’s reshuffle, argued that charities should avoid politics and instead focus on “what they are actually doing”.
Opperman, the Conservative MP for Hexham, was speaking on a panel at the Conservative Party conference this afternoon.
He told the audience: “The majority of the charitable sector dabbles in politics way too much, to the detriment of themselves.
“They don’t get engagement from successive governments because of that.
“Focus on the core product, focus on what you are actually doing, is my strong advice.”
Earlier in the same event, Opperman said: “I am going to try and give [advice to] those who have come here from the charitable sector, who are going: ‘Well come on, fix my problems.’”
That request is “perfectly legitimate”, Opperman said, but added: “If you want to change the world, look in the mirror.
“Go to the government and the private sector with solutions to their problems, rather than saying: ‘Come on, fund me to make this work.’
“I can guarantee you, you will get a much better audience.”
He suggested that charities should engage with Prime Minister Liz Truss’ new growth agenda, or consider their potential role as helping private sector bodies to address environmental, social and governance issues.
Speaking on the same panel, Jerome Mayhew, the Conservative MP for Broadland, criticised charities that took on large contracts to deliver government services.
Answering a question about the distinction between large and small charities, he said: “Large charities doing the work of the state is part of the problem.
“You are not actually a charity. You are contracted to provide a service, which is an emanation of the state.
“The problem with that top-down, statist and, dare I say it, socialist outlook is it lets us all off the hook.
“All of us as members of society can say: ‘That’s not my problem, it’s the state. It’s not my problem that there is litter on the streets, that’s the council’.”
Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, told the event she did not agree with some of the things said on the panel, and said she ensured the voices of the children helped by her charity were widely heard.
She said: “We don’t necessarily see that as dabbling in politics, but we do see that as seeking to influence and change [policy] for people in our communities who, for whatever reason, are facing disadvantage.”
The panel was hosted by the think tanks Pro Bono Economics and Onward.