Martin tells MPs: charity should mean charity

8.30.33pm GMT Tue 7th Nov 2006

Liberal Democrat charities spokesman Martin Horwood has told the House of Commons 'charity should mean charity'. The Cheltenham MP, who has worked himself for charities like Oxfam and the Alzheimer's Society, was speaking on the final stages of the Charities Bill which includes measures to make life more straightforward for charity treasurers and administrators. He told MPs about local charities including the National Star College and Cheltenham Community Projects and said many measures in the bill would help them when it became law.

But he also called for more action to defend the public against charity scams and a tightening of the 'public benefit' test which will now apply to all charities. "Charitable status is very valuable to the organisations concerned and a real badge of confidence that the public can trust" said Martin after the debate. "We must make sure it stays that way. Charity should mean charity."