Common Purpose - a Fraudulent Political "Charity"

Dear Sir or Madam,

By 'Common Purpose', I mean the 'educational charity' of that name:
http://www.commonpurpose.org

According to the Charity Commission, "An organisation will not be
charitable if its purposes are political."

When you get beneath the facade of Common Purpose, its purposes are
clearly political, not educational. The hidden agenda of Common
Purpose is based on the political philosophy of the 'Third Way' and
pursues the political objective of the creation of a collectivist
and corporatist society within the European Union.

http://www.stopcp.com/cpphilosophy.php

Why is Common Purpose allowed to be a charity when its hidden
agenda is clearly political? When are you going to stop the Common
Purpose charity fraud?

Yours faithfully,

John Walker

Thank you for your email to the Charity Commission.

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References

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Dear Mr Walker

Thank you for your e-mails of 21 September and 1 October. I have set out
my response to your questions below.

Why is Common Purpose allowed to operate as a charity?

I thought it might be helpful to set out the general principles we follow
when registering a charity. In order to be charitable in law an
organisation must be set up:

o for a purpose which is charitable in law; and

o for the benefit of the public generally

Common Purpose is registered as a charity with the following objects:

"The advancement of education for the public benefit and in particular,
but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to educate men
and women from a broad range of geographical, political, ethnic,
institutional, social and economic backgrounds in constitutional, civic,
economic and social studies, with special emphasis on civil and social
awareness and responsibility in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, provided
always that nothing contained in the Memorandum and Articles of
Association shall authorise, or be deemed to authorise the carrying on of
any activity for any purposes save those regarded as charitable by the
laws of England and Wales"

Advancing education in the named topics is charitable, and the class of
people to be educated is broadly defined enough to demonstrate public
benefit.

As a registered charity with income of more than £5 million a year,
Common Purpose is required to submit its accounts annually to the
Commission and we publish these on our website
[1]www.charitycommission.gov.uk so that the public can see them.
Charities with income of more than £1 million a year are also required to
submit a Summary Information Return, which sets out key information about
the charity's aims, activities and achievements, and again we publish
these on our website. I have provided a link to the charity's entry on
our Register, where this information can be found:

[2]http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/reg...

Why is Common Purpose allowed to be a charity if it is clearly political?

Common Purposes objects are not political and we have not received any
evidence to suggest that Common Purpose is engaged in anything illegal or
in any activities that would lead us to question its charitable status.

Further guidance concerning campaigning and political activity by
charities can be accessed through our website at:

[3]http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publ...

Request for information

In your e-mail of 21 September you asked us to supply all of the
documentation that we have relating to Common Purpose.

I can confirm that am dealing with your request under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Commission holds a large amount of documentation (in both electronic
and paper form) related to the charity including:

* its Central Register file
* annual accounts
* fifteen case files

Sections 9 and 13 of the Freedom of Information Act allow public
authorities to charge for answering requests in certain cases.

The Act provides for public authorities to either charge for or decline
requests for information that would cost a public authority either more
than £600 for

central government or £450 for other public authorities to deal with the
request. This is referred to as the appropriate limit. Public authorities
are required

to estimate whether a request is likely to breach the 'appropriate
limit'.

In determining the 'appropriate limit' we will consider the following
activities:

* determining whether we hold the information requested
* locating the information or documents containing the information
* retrieving such information or documents
* extracting the information from the document containing it (including
editing or redacting information)

I am yet to receive all of the files that we hold, but it is likely that
your request would go beyond the 'appropriate limit'. If you could specify
the

information that you are looking for this may make it easier for us to
locate and extract the specific information that you require.

A large amount of information is already available via our central
register- for example the charity's annual accounts. The register has
recently been

updated and can be accessed by the link below.

[4]http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/sho...

I should also make it clear that some information will be exempt (for
example personal contact details for trustees) and may not be disclosable.

If you would like to discuss your Freedom of Information Request please
call or email me.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Park

Large Charities Division

Charity Commission Direct
PO Box 1227
Liverpool
L69 3UG
T: 0207 674 2355
[email address]

On track to meet your deadline? Visit [5]www.charitycommission.gov.uk for
help on filing your annual return and accounts

Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.

If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and
delete
the original message from your system.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. file://www.charitycommission.gov.uk
2. http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/reg...
3. http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publ...
4. http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/sho...
5. file://www.charitycommission.gov.uk

Dear Mr Walker

Thank you for your e-mails of 21 September and 1 October. I have set out
my response to your questions below.

Why is Common Purpose allowed to operate as a charity?

I thought it might be helpful to set out the general principles we follow
when registering a charity. In order to be charitable in law an
organisation must be set up:

o for a purpose which is charitable in law; and

o for the benefit of the public generally

Common Purpose is registered as a charity with the following objects:

"The advancement of education for the public benefit and in particular,
but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to educate men
and women from a broad range of geographical, political, ethnic,
institutional, social and economic backgrounds in constitutional, civic,
economic and social studies, with special emphasis on civil and social
awareness and responsibility in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, provided
always that nothing contained in the Memorandum and Articles of
Association shall authorise, or be deemed to authorise the carrying on of
any activity for any purposes save those regarded as charitable by the
laws of England and Wales"

Advancing education in the named topics is charitable, and the class of
people to be educated is broadly defined enough to demonstrate public
benefit.

As a registered charity with income of more than £5 million a year,
Common Purpose is required to submit its accounts annually to the
Commission and we publish these on our website
[1]www.charitycommission.gov.uk so that the public can see them.
Charities with income of more than £1 million a year are also required to
submit a Summary Information Return, which sets out key information about
the charity's aims, activities and achievements, and again we publish
these on our website. I have provided a link to the charity's entry on
our Register, where this information can be found:

[2]http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/reg...

Why is Common Purpose allowed to be a charity if it is clearly political?

Common Purposes objects are not political and we have not received any
evidence to suggest that Common Purpose is engaged in anything illegal or
in any activities that would lead us to question its charitable status.

Further guidance concerning campaigning and political activity by
charities can be accessed through our website at:

[3]http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publ...

Request for information

In your e-mail of 21 September you asked us to supply all of the
documentation that we have relating to Common Purpose.

I can confirm that am dealing with your request under the terms of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Commission holds a large amount of documentation (in both electronic
and paper form) related to the charity including:

* its Central Register file
* annual accounts
* fifteen case files

Sections 9 and 13 of the Freedom of Information Act allow public
authorities to charge for answering requests in certain cases.

The Act provides for public authorities to either charge for or decline
requests for information that would cost a public authority either more
than £600 for

central government or £450 for other public authorities to deal with the
request. This is referred to as the appropriate limit. Public authorities
are required

to estimate whether a request is likely to breach the 'appropriate
limit'.

In determining the 'appropriate limit' we will consider the following
activities:

* determining whether we hold the information requested
* locating the information or documents containing the information
* retrieving such information or documents
* extracting the information from the document containing it (including
editing or redacting information)

I am yet to receive all of the files that we hold, but it is likely that
your request would go beyond the 'appropriate limit'. If you could specify
the

information that you are looking for this may make it easier for us to
locate and extract the specific information that you require.

A large amount of information is already available via our central
register- for example the charity's annual accounts. The register has
recently been

updated and can be accessed by the link below.

[4]http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/sho...

I should also make it clear that some information will be exempt (for
example personal contact details for trustees) and may not be disclosable.

If you would like to discuss your Freedom of Information Request please
call or email me.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Park

Large Charities Division

Charity Commission Direct
PO Box 1227
Liverpool
L69 3UG
T: 0207 674 2355
[email address]

On track to meet your deadline? Visit [5]www.charitycommission.gov.uk for
help on filing your annual return and accounts

Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.

If you have received this email in error please notify the sender and
delete
the original message from your system.

show quoted sections

Communications via the GSi may be automatically logged, monitored and/or
recorded for legal purposes.

References

Visible links
1. file://www.charitycommission.gov.uk
2. http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/reg...
3. http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publ...
4. http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/sho...
5. file://www.charitycommission.gov.uk

Dear Andrew Park,

You say "Common Purposes objects are not political and we have not
received any evidence to suggest that Common Purpose is engaged in
anything illegal or in any activities that would lead us to
question its charitable status".

Evidence as to the political purpose of Common Purpose is
well-hidden but this does not mean evidence does not exist. If I
find evidence of their political links, and forward this evidence
to you, will you ASSURE me that the matter will then be
investigated?

Yours sincerely,

John Walker

Dear Mr Walker,

Thank you for your e-mail. I will look at any information that you provide and assess whether there are any regulatory issues for the Commission.

I would also be grateful if you could let me know whether the links that I flagged up in my email provided the information that you sought in your initial email of 21 September.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Park

Large Charities Division

Charity Commission Direct
PO Box 1227
Liverpool
L69 3UG
T: 0207 674 2355
[email address]

show quoted sections

Dear Andrew Park,

Thank you for your quick reply.

I expect to be able to provide you with further information about
Common Purpose in the near future.

As regards your email of 21 September 2008, the links do provide
the info I need.

I am absolutely certain that Common Purpose is deceiving the
Charity Commission, thereby undermining your purpose, integrity and
credibility. Common Purpose must not be allowed to get away with
treating with contempt a public body such as the Charity
Commission.

Yours sincerely,

John Walker

Dear Mr Walker,

Thank you for responding to me on this point. I will await any further
information that you may have.

Yours sincerely

Andrew Park

Large Charities Division

Charity Commission Direct
PO Box 1227
Liverpool
L69 3UG
T: 0207 674 2355
[email address]

show quoted sections