The Government has been slammed for presiding over a taxpayer farce, after it emerged it has given over £200 million to charities that are now lobbying against the Rwanda Bill. In total, £209 million have been given to charities demanding the House of Lords vote against the flagship legislation.
Some describe the policy as “deeply harmful” and claim it’s setting a “dangerous precedent”.
265 charities wrote to the Government on Monday, claiming the Bill is “a threat to the universality of human rights”.
However Analysis by the Centre for Migration Control, published last night by the Telegraph, unearthed the huge sum of public cash given to the charities in grants and contracts since 2020.
The charities demand the House of Lords reject the Bill, claiming the Government is carrying out “an attack on the constitutional role of the judiciary and the rule of law”.
The story will come as little surprise to Express readers, after the paper revealed that millions was being given to left-wing campaigning groups.
Despite that story being broken in April 2023, the Government has done nothing to end the scandal.
This afternoon, Jonathan Eida of the TaxPayers’ Alliance think tank warned: “Taxpayers are sick of paying for the lobbying merry-go-round, with vast sums handed to organisations who fight the government tooth and nail.
“Organisations are entitled to actively work to overturn government policy, but if they choose to do so they should consider whether it’s right to go cap in hand to taxpayers asking for funds.
“Ministers should focus on ensuring public services are up to scratch, rather than channelling cash into those that work so hard against them.”
The group Freedom from Torture – which this week placed adverts on the London Underground network arguing “no one should have t be subjected to [the] cruelty” of being deported to Rwanda – has pocketed £609,000 since 2020 alone.
Much of this was from the Ministry of Justice.
Another group who signed the letter, the Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, has received over £500,000 of taxpayers’ money since 2020.
An MoJ spokesman has argued the victims’ funding grant includes a clause which makes clear that the grant money “cannot be used to fund lobbying in order to undertake activities intended to influence Parliament/Government”.
Earlier this week, the House of Lords failed to quash the flagship legislation, after a LibDem amendment attempting to kill the Bill failed by 206 votes to 84.
Ken Clarke led the charge against the legislation, describing it as a step towards an “elected dictatorship”.
Robert Bates of the Centre for Migration Control blasted the findings, saying: “The electorate will rightly feel aggrieved that one of their key priorities has been thwarted by a mass of unaccountable groups that are propped up by their own tax money.”
