Steve urges government to hand windfall £475m to good causes
Steve Reed MP has told Government ministers to hand a windfall of £475 million to local charities that support communities across the country. The money is held by the National Fund, a charity set up in 1928 to pay off the national debt, but which has never paid out a single penny ever since. The national debt has grown so enormous under the Conservatives that even if every penny of the National Fund was contributed, it wouldn’t even pay off two days’ worth of interest repayments.
Steve has argued for the Government to hand the money to good causes in local communities where it could make a real impact and help achieve the Fund’s original charitable objectives.
He said:
This money has been accumulating for nearly a century, without contributing anything to the national debt or good causes. It would make practically no difference to the size of the national debt, so it makes sense to use it to help local charities feed the hungry, house the homeless and care for the sick, as well as supporting other worthy causes.
Steven Reed is Labour MP for Croydon North and Shadow Minister for Children and Families. In 2018 his private member’s bill on reducing violent mental health restraint became law. In June 2019 he launched Labour’s civil society strategy outlining radical plans to empower citizens and communities.
Steve chairs the Cooperative Councils Innovation Network, co-chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for London, was Leader of Lambeth Council 2006-12 where he led the council’s children’s services to become best-rated in the country and pioneered the public-health approach to tackling violent youth crime. He worked in publishing for 16 years and was an elected trade union branch secretary.