The @Conservatives believe @OxfamGB should be #gagged for speaking the simple #truth It started, as many things do these days, with a tweet. Oxfam GB posted on Twitter a mock-up of a film poster entitled “Perfect Storm”. Against the backdrop of a swirling sea, the #charity set out what it sees as the five evils stalking #Austerity #Britain: #ZeroHours contracts, high #prices, #benefit cuts, #unemployment and #childcare costs. Another Oxfam tweet with the hashtag #BreadlineKids said: “We think all #political parties need to commit to action on food poverty in the UK.” The tweets had a simple aim– to draw attention to Oxfam’s “#BreadlineBritain” report on poverty and hunger in our country. But they have triggered a storm in which Oxfam finds itself at the centre. The Conservative Party Conor Burns MP described it as “explicitly political” and has reported Oxfam to the Charity Commission. Another Tory MP, Charlie Elphicke, said yesterday that the charity’s complaints were inaccurate, that poverty and unemployment were falling in the UK under David Camerons #Government. Why should Oxfam, they say, receive £60m a year in Government grants for its charitable status when it is mounting a partisan attack on that same Government? Mr Burns tweeted at Oxfam warning them that they would lose many everyday donors – including those who spend money at their high street charity and bookshops – as a result of the campaign. Reading this, I wondered whether Oxfam’s newly enraged opponents think that this charity only gathers its donations from selling second-hand clothes and books, then sending the proceeds off to stricken families in Africa. Because the outrage seems to stem from surprise that Oxfam is working – and has been doing for years – among us, helping Britain’s #poor.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 20:01:45 +0000
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