Oxfam - an unashamedly fake charity

Also on BBC Breakfast this morning was a representative from Oxfam, who openly acknowledged that a significant portion of their funding comes not from voluntary donations, but from the UN and the government — that is, money confiscated from taxpayers.

Predictably, this revelation passed without comment.

Oxfam's accounts are available online.

2009-10 shows £112.7 million (out of a total of £318.0 million) coming from "government and other public authorities".



For the 11 months to 31 March 2010, Oxfam claim to have received £125.6 million in "Voluntary Income". Bizarrely, £7.3 million of this comes from "UK government: Department for International Development – Partnership Programme Agreement"

The £112.7 million for the same period from "government, institutional donors and other public authorities" breaks down as follows:

	11 Months to 31 March 2010 (£m)
UK Government
...DFID Resources for specific programmes – CHASE	2.9
...DFID Resources for specific programmes – Desks and Regions	7.4
...DFID Government and Transparency Fund	1.2
...Other	0.4
European Union	42.5
UNHCR	0.7
Other UN agencies	12.7
Members of Oxfam International	21.6
Non-UK governments	16.0
Other international agencies	5.2
Big Lottery Fund	0.2
Other UK agencies	2.5

£42.5m from the European Union?! I don't suppose we can expect any Eurosceptic views from Oxfam, then. And sure enough, we find Oxfam lobbying for pan-European taxation:

As the rain poured down in Brussels, campaigners arrived outside the European Council building to press home the message that Europe can and must agree to a Robin Hood Tax. Braving the weather, activists staged a stunt to the European media, as greedy bankers wrestling with the poor and the planet over a giant euro bank note.

Inside the building, European finance ministers were meeting to discuss options for taxing the financial sector and protecting taxpayers from future financial crises. The meeting was requested by the French and German governments, and ministers were hoping to reach consensus on bank levies and financial transaction taxes in Europe.

This is the big problem with fake charities. The BBC will often trot out reports from the likes of Oxfam as if they are independent bodies, representing the will of the people. In fact, their independence is compromised by massive donations from government. These fake charities are never going to call for a reduction in state spending; they will support Big Government to the bitter end.

UPDATE: The story later appeared on news.bbc.co.uk:

Overall, the charity saw total revenues rise to £318m ($496m).

The strong results came mainly thanks to a £27m jump in grants from governments and agencies like the UN.

About half of the charity's fundraising income comes from governments, Oxfam's head, Barbara Stocking, told BBC Breakfast television.

Interesting that there's no specific mention of the EU, despite them being far and away the largest government donor ...