to point out DAVID CAMERON is asking much poorer people than himself to give to CHARITY.its the Big Society back from the dead.

[ScousyFogarty]

The PM will be speaking about this morning. He wants you to round up for charity at supermarkets. And give at cashpoints.

I find it hard to believe. But I trust the PM will have donated at least 2 million from his massive fortune.

Do we really need a top politician telling us to give to charity. I like to choose the charities I give to .How about you?

Most of the people I mix with in RL are Tory and they're extremely charitable - a few spend hours/days doing unpaid charity work.
I've always found Tories the most charitable 'group' actually - and they do it because they want to, not just to look good

Once you have thrown in all the organisation, and the cover for when the volunteers have to cry off and so on, it might well not be much cheaper than doing it in the first place.

People who are doing this sort of work are minimum wage.

I am first to believe that there are big holes in the larger charities. I will always donate to the more local charities and causes and avoid the mainstream ones, especially those employing chuggers

I am skint, proper skint and.... shock horror voted Tory, I can see myself voting Tory again.. and again. Whats wrong with him high lighting that charities need people to donate? For those of you that already do then great- hes not asking you to give more, hes asking those that don't to consider it IF you can afford it.

Oh and I don't give money to charity- I have done but don't currently as can't afford to but I get what hes saying.

ikoto for the people giving the money it is pretty galling though.

I think that people should be told that when they sign up for a DD on their doorstep or on the high street that a good proportion of their donation will go to pay the commission.

Things are not transparent.

With tax none of this is required.

But if your money is used to generate even more for the cause then whats the issue? Unless you want the self-gratifying feeling of thinking that you have directly helped someone/thing.

I think most people give to charity because they want to help? That's the whole motivation surely?

If there was a charity called "Donations to give to sales people" I don't think it would do very well.

Ikoto maybe you could tell me what your vision is for tax, charity, and the welfare state?

I am confused as to where you are coming from TBH.

But the poor are not exempt from the unfair burden that taxes impose. We have no direct say in how our taxes are spent and are often used by those in power to further their own/party causes.

You seem to be implying that it is selfish to give to charity to help people, while at the same time suggesting that charities should be advertising a lot to get people to do exactly that.

But you give to charity to finance all of its operations which are obviously more than just the cause so you'd have to be pretty naive to expect 100% to go on the cause. Do people think that the collection tins are grown on trees for example.

My vision of the welfare state is a mixed economy of welfare involving the state and voluntary sector provision.

"But the poor are not exempt from the unfair burden that taxes impose. "

You want to get rid of taxes? Why do you think taxes are an unfair burden?

Ikoto most people are unaware of the size of the media, sales and advertising budgets of the larger charities, and would be quite shocked if they knew.

IME when people find out, many of them switch to smaller, more local charities.

You don't agree with the private sector being involved then?

Incidentally the third sector has been very hard hit by the cuts, with many thousands of redundancies, and many organisations having to close down.

I think there are certain areas where the private sector could get further involved such as health and education yes.

That's not a big surprise.

The big society is an idea devised to try and cover for the fiscal retrenchment that the country is having to engage in. The fact of the matter is the Government as being spending more than it has been collecting for some considerable time and we now have a gap between revenue and spending of around £150 billion. That is simply not sustainable and so the Government is reducing the amount it spends and increasing taxes to close the gap. What Cameron is doing is trying to encourage people to have a sense of civil society and to give money to third sector organisations to play a larger role and try and keep up as much provison as possible. I think its an idea with some merit and deserves support.

Do you think that people in the UK at the moment do not have a sense of civil society, and give to charity, latitude?

Itsjustafleshwound
"Seriously, I would be happy to help (cook, shop) for the vulnerable/less mobile old lady down my road"

1. Go for it. No-one's stopping you doing it.
2. Wipe her arse while you're there, will you? What's that? You don't want to wipe her arse? Well, surprise surprise, neither does anyone else. So we'll have to pay someone to do it. Whether they're paid by the Bumbling Wasteful State, a Rapacious Multinational Corporation or a Well-meaning But Incompetent Charity.

Badly phrased - I am just saying that some taxes don't discriminate whether you are rich or poor and wealthier taxpayers have more avenues open to them to avoid paying tax ....

It is just that taxes are unfair and we have little, direct say in deciding who gets what and funds are never ring fenced. Taxes are paid by the poor and returned in the way of tax credits which is just daft.

I think there is a sense of civil society but I think it could be improved sardine

I would if I could!

Do churches still do meals on wheels??

"encourage people to have a sense of civil society" etc etc "I think its an idea with some merit and deserves support."

Is there anyone here who disagrees with DC's ideas?

Is anyone going to say, oh, actually, NO I think we should be more selfish,not less. We should make more revenue, not more charity. We should care less about the elderly, the homeless, the needy, and focus on ourselves.

Hahahhaahha.

The point about DC's "idea" is that no one is going to disagree with the idea really. Platitudes and nothing more!