Sparaszczukster on Reform – The Independent Think-Tank, Sponsored by 30 Multinationals, Demanding the Privatisation of the NHS

The excellent and well-informed Granny’s Last Mix has a very interesting story on Reform. This is an ostensibly independent charity, sponsored by 30 multinationals, recommending the dismantlement and privatisation of the NHS. Sparaszczukster says of it

Reform is a free market think tank, whose mission according to their website, is to ‘set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity.’ They are also an official charity, although, as Robertson demonstrates, not in the traditional sense. The Oxford English Dictionary describes a charity as ‘an organisation set up to provide help and raise money for those in need’ and according to the Charity Commission ’the guiding principal of charity law is that charities should be, and be seen to be, independent from party politics.’ Robertson’s in-depth investigation of Reform has found that their power base rests almost entirely with the Conservative party. He says that Reform’s claim to independence is based on having one Liberal Democrat (Jeremy Browne) and two Labour members (Lord Warner and MP Frank Field) and a Conservative MP, (Julian Smith) on their advisory team. These however do not represent the overall dominance of the organisation towards the Conservative party, which can be seen by the power base of the founders and trustees and Reform doesn’t exist to give a voice to the voiceless, but is acting rather to leverage money from the public sector into the hands of the corporations, some of which just happen to be partners of the Reform ‘charity’.

The full article can be read here:http://sparaszczukster.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/reform-the-independent-think-tank-that-wants-us-to-think-its-a-charity-that-drives-the-thinking-behind-nhs-privatisation-backed-by-over-thirty-multinational-corporations/