Thread by @docrussjackson

The Libertarian-billionaire funded Right pretend free speech is threatened from an authoritarian Left, yet 90% of UK campaigners say their free speech is threatened by hostile right-wing politicians & media using them as “fodder for phoney culture wars".

theguardian.com/society/2021/j…

Nearly two-thirds of campaigners say politicians are increasingly negative & less tolerant towards charities which actively fight for social justice, with politicians “shutting down channels of communication, & attacking campaigners & their allies as a threat to the common good”.

Examples include criticism of the @nationaltrust by the "Common Sense group" of Tories for publishing a report into historical slavery links at some of its country house properties. The MPs used an antisemitic conspiracy to accuse the Trust of "cultural Marxist", “woke” agenda.

Also cited was Priti Patel’s targeting of “do-gooders” and “lefty” "activist lawyers" in a speech at Tory party conference, despite Law Society complaints that the home secretary’s earlier comments about “activist lawyers” had led to a racist assault on an immigration lawyer.

Unicef was accused last month of a “political stunt” by Jacob Rees-Mogg after it funded food support for deprived children in south London, while Tory MPs reported Barnardo’s to the charities regulator after it published a blog discussing racial inequality and white privilege.

The Sheila McKechnie Foundation foundation said the findings came after years of ever-tightening restrictions on charity campaigning, including lobbying restrictions, & the use of “gagging clauses” in grants & contracts to prevent charities openly criticising government policy.

Nine out of 10 campaigners said they thought the freedom to organise, speak out or protest was under threat.

Over half (56%) felt conditions had got worse over the past year, while 72% said negative media coverage was a threat to their freedom to campaign.

Politicians & the media are out of touch with public attitudes to campaigning. Over half of respondents felt the public was increasingly positive about social justice issues, citing widespread support for #BlackLivesMatter & Marcus Rashford’s action over food poverty.
Agency.

Halima Begum, the director of the race equality charity Runnymede Trust, was criticised in parliament by the women & equalities minister, Liz Truss, after saying the government sought to divisively prioritise the white working class at the expense of ethnic minorities.

Divisive idiot Liz Truss called Begum’s comments “appalling”, saying they reflected “an attitude on the left of politics that says: ‘If you’re not from an oppressed group, you’re not entitled to an opinion’.

Truss & others spout dangerously misleading populist garbage.

“It's a grave concern to see charity leaders being attacked at a time when charities’ funding is drying up. Increasingly, the Govt appears to engage with independent charities in a one-way process, making clear that it’s their way or the highway if you dare disagree with policy.”

The chief executive of the Sheila McKechnie Foundation, said: “Civil society will keep working to defend rights & build a better world out of the pandemic. It’s time for politicians to work with us, even where we don’t always agree, not make us fodder in phoney culture wars.”

More context and examples of the Government attacking charities.

To be crystal clear: the Libertarian-billionaire-funded Tories have fully embraced a dangerously divisive populist nationalist agenda, that we see unfolding across Europe, & in the #USA.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1350007537966477313