Ben Roberts
We’re now more than a full year into Scotland’s current parliamentary term, which is in full swing following last May’s Holyrood elections. This means that we’re also a year on from the outpouring of manifestos produced by various charities outlining their hopes and commitments for the next five years. While we could speak endlessly on the various successes of these charities’ efforts, something to explore further is the act of engaging politically itself. This week, we’re giving Westminster a break as it faces the significant upheaval of the past month (which it seems our neighbours to the North have been slow to join in on). Instead, we are looking at how MSPs themselves have felt about charities and if they share the view of some politicians that some charities are ‘too political’.
To learn more, we must first know what MSPs consider to be political action by charities. This year, we asked 38 MSPs for their insights and opinions on the matter. The most common response to this question came from nearly one in five respondents (16%), who told us that political action is as simple as engaging in political debate and endorsing or rejecting the views on certain policy. As one Conservative MSP put it, a charity is political as soon as it starts “taking a political viewpoint alongside its purpose”, while a Labour MSP suggested that to be political a charity “has political values and is engaged in the political environment.” If we expect charities to naturally support their preferred policies, we can therefore imagine that just about all of them are political when based on these interpretations of the word.
Other MSPs took a more party-political perspective stating that a political charity is one that is biased or favours a particular party over another. This was most emphatically described by one SNP member who believed it occurs when they “express a consistent view in favour of a particular political party, policy, or constitutional settlement unrelated to their interest.” a similar view being expressed by an MSP who told us that “charities say to me they are apolitical – and by that they mean they want to move their work through any and all parties.”
This is a challenge that all charities have to navigate should a policy be detrimental to their cause. Is it possible to still be considered neutral by all sides if your cause necessitates criticism of one party’s policies? It should be noted that we often see in our research with MPs in Westminster that the party in power is more likely to see the term ‘political’ in terms of party bias, whereas those outside of government are less likely. This could explain some of the responses by SNP MSPs.
While one Conservative MSP claimed that a charity being political “puts me off,” the rub is that sometimes they don’t even have to engage in political discourse to face this scrutiny. As we explored in the third chapter of our campaigning report, the culture war has seen various charities facing allegations of political agendas based on their day-to-day operations. If RNLI can be dragged through the mud for rescuing refugees at sea, just about anyone can be pulled into the political spotlight to further a conversation.
Whilst some MSPs define charities being political as negative, it’s clear that many view it as a part of their work. Charities play a vital role in persuading the government to act on societal issues. They are, as one MSP puts it, merely “doing their job” (Labour MSP). As we go forward it is as important as ever to remember that charities, with the right messaging and strong campaigning, will continue to act as key stakeholders and critical voices in the development of policy in Scotland.