My second recommendation for the Big Give Christmas Challenge is an organisation dedicated to restoring truth in politics: Full Fact.
The Big Give is a charity that helps other charities to find sponsors who double their income from public donations. The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2024 runs from December 3-10, and I’m recommending a different charity every day.
It’s a sad truth that fundraising takes up about half of most charities’ income and resources. Anything they can do to make fundraising easier means that more money goes to the causes they support.
Full Fact
Misinformation has become a daily part of politics, not only during our elections and referendums. Whether it’s malicious untruths or “white lies” made in good faith, politics at every level is being corroded by dishonesty. Every player seems to think it’s OK to lie to achieve their goals, and they’re always surprised when it goes wrong.
This entrenched attitude drives distrust in politics. Fewer people vote, making it easier for extremists to hijack debates and elections. Personally, I lost faith in the British Labour party when they seemed to lose interest in honesty. I understand the pressures that drove them, but it’s a hard path to reverse.
Full Fact is a British organisation dedicated to raising the standards of politics and debate. They hold politicians and public servants and public figures accountable for incorrect or misleading statements. They don’t take a partisan view, demanding corrections and retractions from figures on all sides.
The charity also campaigns to correct misinformation in social media. They put pressure on social media providers and raise alerts when untruths turn into pervasive viral memes. And they have achieved change, making it easier for British politicians to correct the Parliamentary record when they’ve made an incorrect statement.
All of which is expensive work that gets little support from either politicians or the media. Public donations are essential to keep this small organisation working on its dual goals of daily fact-checking and campaigning for long-term change.