Charities ‘scared’ to criticise government
Willie Rennie has claimed that third sector organisations are scared of criticising government policies for fear of losing their funding.
The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader said there was a “subtle threat” which needed to be removed in order for the public sphere to be able to engage in robust political argument without concern they could be shut down.
The right for organisations that “receive government money to criticise the government should be protected,” he said.
Laying out a raft of changes he said his party would make to Scotland’s political system and the way Parliament can hold government to account, he said organisations which receivefundingfromthescottishgovernmentshouldhave a “licence to criticise”, which would give them a stronger voice and a legal guarantee that they won’t be penalised financially.
Mr Rennie said he knew of “multiple examples” where charities and other bodies
had withdrawn from engagingwithhisparty,ifitwaslikelytoleadtoanycriticismofthe SNP government.
Refusing to give names, he said:"onethirdsectororganisation we were in discussions with about doing a member’s debate asked us if we would criticise the government. We said most likely as we have concerns,andtheysaidthey’d rathernotgetinvolvedifthat's what your planning to do.
“We know there are multiple examples like that, you see organisations pulling their punches, holding back, onthingsthatinwestminster they don’t hold back. It's a culture that's around.”