The corruption of our institutions under New Labour is evidenced by the fact that the Charities Commission have yet again given only a warning to New Labour’s most blatant tax dodge, the Smith Institute. Everybody active in Scottish politics recognises full well that the Smith Institute – named after ex-Labour leader John Smith – is part and parcel of New Labour. It is run by Brown’s close friends and often meets in Gordon Brown’s home. Its board are all New Labour – the supposedly “Neutral” members are John Milligan, New Labour’s biggest Scottish donor, https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2007/12/john_milligan_a.html, and Jack Straw fan Paul Myners. Under Myners’ watch the Guardian has finally broken with the terms of C P Scott’s trust. which stipulates that it must pursue the causes of liberalism. With its support for the New Labour’s “War on Terror” and its pathetic equivocation on the War in Iraq, the Guardian has been a cheerleader for the biggest move away from Liberalism since 1821. Are there any lawyers out there up for a legal challenge in terms of the Scott Trust acting ultra vires? There can be no argument that support for New Labour is compatible with liberal values.

The Smith Institute would be perfectly fine, were it not for the fact that it has charitable status as an independent research organisation and thus dodges hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in tax. There is a good report here from Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?

pid=20601102&sid=a40bVP9nqITA&refer=uk

But the article fails to hit the real point. This is the most transparent bit of crookery imaginable. Plainly the Charities Commission in Scotland is fully aware that this is part of New Labour. And yet for years the Smith Institute has been given chance after chance after chance to meet the regulations, without ever having its charitable status removed. No other fake charity would be treated so leniently. Is the Charities Commission yet another quango that has been stitched up by New Labour?