Charities and government agencies

Over on Labourlist there's a tirade against some article in the guardian that calls the Tory party progressive. I'm pretty sure I haven't voted Tory in the past ten years, so thats my colours nailed to the mast. However, there's a wee bit in the tirade that caught my eye cos it chimes with this fake charities trip.

Which party refuses to explain how it will be cutting planned funding for apprenticeships, charities and much else? And finally, which party’s soundbite admonishes Labour for not “mending the roof while the sun shines”?

Why is the government funding charities? Doesn't them receiving government funding make them a government agency, rather than a charity? If they're a government agency they're covered by the Freedom of Information act, and you can find out anything about them, if they're a charity, they're not.

So if your charity is almost entirely funded by the government, its a government agency, working through a loophole to avoid hassle.

Anyhoo, my government funded charity of the day is The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

97% of its income comes from the Department of Communities and Local Government, thats £500,000 of tax payers money. They have zero income from donations. The public don't give a shit in any tangible way about Holocaust Memorial Day. Can I have my 10p back please?

Aye, the Holocaust was a big bad thing, but it's covered in history class, take your history GCSE and you'll know about it. On the other hand at the height of Britpop and the nineties, we had another genocide going on Bosnia that claimed a couple of hundred thousand lives and the civil war in the Congo which claimed eight million lives.