The Tories have turned against charities and no longer see them as ‘vast society’ partners to soften the blow of spending cutsWhere did it all go so improper for the Tories and the third sector? Beneath the cynical rhetoric of David Cameron’s “vast society” there was a proposition. It said to the voluntary sector: we need you. As we reduce public spending we hope social provision can – at least to face-saving extent – step in. We will (they implied) cherish you,dish out knighthoods to your top people and invite them to join commissions and parlays.
And for the first few years of the coalition government the bargain seemed to hold. None of the insider accounts of the Cameron years quite explains what happened next. Suddenly, the Tories turned. Tory MPs such as Priti Patel were encouraged to recruit the media in attacking charity “fat cats. The cabinet sent the hapless third sector minister, or Nick Hurd,to conferences to explain that not only would there be no additional money for charities to pick up the pieces from cuts to councils but they would have to do up with severe reductions in support.
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Source: theguardian.com