Richard Stay: The Charity Commission Conundrum!.
The Charity Commission are still considering their position in respect of the decision not to grant charitable status to the Exclusive Brethren’s Preston Down Trust in Torquay.
They are in confidential talks with lawyers representing the brethren & regularly get letters from the group of MP’s who strangely think this sect warrants tax-payer support.
But the conundrum is this – if the Commission bows to the incredible lobbying campaign mounted by the brethren & grants charitable status they will rightly face a barrage of criticism from those harmed by the brethren’s edicts & beliefs. If they continue to refuse charitable status the brethren & their dwindling band of supporters will equally scream blue murder.
So the solution is simple – refer the matter to a Tribunal, it then becomes a legal test, not just around charitable status but also the more important matter of harm. That is the more critical matter that requires a proper public airing & to be tested by a senior legal expert.
We know the brethren do not want to go to Tribunal (cost was stated as the reason), but we believe that the brethren do not want the mountain of evidence gathered by the Commission to be aired in public.
These include hugely personal tragedies inflicted on people by the unfeeling & callous decisions taken by this sect & frankly most of which have never been put right.
So the right outcome would be to let the matter go to a Tribunal for a proper test of the Exclusive Brethren’s public benefit & accordingly their charitable status along with the test of harm.
The Church of Scientology were refused charitable status on these grounds, we could & will argue that the same circumstances apply here.
It is the stated desire of the Commission for this matter to be tested at Tribunal – so just get on with it!
I totally concur with the view that the Exclusive Brethren claims should be referred to a Tribunal; and whilst they are about it the Tribunal should look at their questionable claim to Council Tax exemption on their bogus claim that their “Churches” are PUBLIC places of worship. How on earth they achieved such registration beggars belief. There is no way that their “CHURCH” buildings can be remotely considered as PUBLIC places of worship. No member of the public can walk into ANY of their services without first being interrogated by one or more of their priests; and even then you will only be considered for entrance into a service if they consider you “ARE WELL DISPOSED”. Not only should their Charitable Status NOT be restored; their TAX exemptions should be taken away from them. All their recent “public spirited” activity has in the main only happened since the Commission’s decision. They have never been of PUBLIC BENEFIT. For M.P. Peter Bone to mention the Exclusive Brethren in the same breath as he mentioned the Salvation Army is the most cynical joke of all time. Read Roy Hattersley’s book “Blood and Fire” then compare it with the track record of the Exclusive Brethren and you will surely conclude with me that M.P. Peter Bone’s comments are blatant misinformed misrepresentation of the facts and the Charity’s Commission should be made aware of this fact..
I am astounded That the charity Commissioners are even considering donating funds to the Exclusice Section of the Plymouth Brethren. Our son married a girl who had “escaped” from this sect and was working in a college in Bridgwater, Somerset. Partly due to a problem he had with alcohol she eventually decided to return to the sect and to keep his family together he went with her. Our grandchildren who we helped to bring up for up to seven years are now kept very much at arms length and the girl,now aged 17 has been taken from the family home and sent to Australia since last May. Her visa has run out and she is back in UK but is not allowed to visit her family home. I consider this behaviour to be little short of the conduct of the Ultra Left Wing group in South London, who have kept 3 women prisoner for some 30 years. This girl has I am sure been totally brainwashed. None of these cults should be considered for charitable status