Scrutinising charities
Sir: Toby Young was right to raise questions about War on Want’s links to the Stop Trump campaign (4 May). The public rightly hold charities to high standards of behaviour, and charities are required to follow clear rules around political activity. We will be scrutinising the charity’s activities, and the issues raised by Toby Young, closely as part of an ongoing case into the charity. Similarly, we have examined concerns about the activities of a range of charitable thinktanks, and last year issued a regulatory alert to all charitable thinktanks on the register, including to warn them about unacceptable political activity. I can assure your readers that as an evidence-based regulator, we assess all concerns raised with us fairly and consistently against a clear regulatory framework. We will continue to do so without fear or favour.
David Holdsworth,
Deputy chief executive, Charity Commission
Marijuana use is not trivial
Sir: It is difficult to decide whether to condemn Chris Daw QC (‘A bitter pill’, 4 May) for his defeatism, or for his wilful ignorance of the true state of law enforcement in this country. There is no ‘prohibition’ of drug possession, as he claims. Hardly a week passes without some police force declaring that it is not interested in applying laws it is legally obliged to enforce. On 20 April, marijuana’s holy day, 5,000 people gathered in Hyde Park and broke the law, while police stood about. Not one person was arrested for an offence which officially carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and an unlimited fine.
This is the culmination of a de facto surrender which goes back almost 50 years. It is the users who sustain the entire drugs trade. Suppliers and dealers would have no business without their cash.
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