12 February 2011

Shaun Bailey accused of “disgusting slur” against charities


Shaun Bailey, failed Hammersmith Tory parliamentary candidate, has started his new job as one of David Cameron’s Big Society ambassadors by insulting charities. According to the Times, he has described big charities protesting about cuts as “a few people with their vested interests who think they were going to make a lot of money”.

“This is a disgusting slur on the work of some of our countries most loved and most effective institutions” says Stephen Bubb, who speaks for the sector as head of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO). “Our ‘vested interests’ are the most vulnerable, the most needy and the most damaged parts of our communities.” See the full story here.

We are, of course, talking about the same Shaun Bailey whose own charity My Generation last year failed to account properly for £16,000 of its expenses and which spent unusually large amounts on publicity and travel and administration – see HfConwatch reports here, here and here.

And whose accounts for 2009-10 are already 12 days  overdue, according to the Charity Commission’s website.

Last year, Bailey claimed to the Times, "What you are dealing with is a kid from the estate who had a good idea to do this and never had a wider view of accountants and lawyers. We have raised this money, spent it on the kids. We just didn’t know."

He said this even though the founding trustees of My Generation were Charles Niren, a chartered accountant, Karin Norman, a former investment banker, and Laetitia Gunn, a former Conservative A-List parliamentary candidate and barrister.

Cameron, Greenhalgh & Bailey. Your society safe in their hands.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonder why My Generation's accounts for 2009-10 are over due? Was Shaun Bailey too busy campaigning (unsuccessfully) to be a Tory MP to spend any time doing his paid job as chief executive of the My Generation charity? What are the state of the charity's finances?

Anonymous said...

As of today (21 February), the accounts have still not been submitted. What is the problem, Mr Bailey?