The charity row intensifies

David Cameron finds himself in the midst of a blue-on-blue barney over the charity tax, which has prompted rumours that ministers may dilute the current proposals by adopting an American-style legacy deal. Tory party treasurer Lord Fink has said that the proposed changes would ‘put people off giving’, and some boisterous Conservative MPs are openly challenging the leadership. Zac Goldsmith has penned a diatribe in the Mail on Sunday in which he says:

‘I am ashamed that a Conservative Chancellor has not only announced measures that will undoubtedly depress giving in this country; he has spun a narrative in which philanthropists are now the enemy.’

Meanwhile, David Davis told the Andrew Marr Show that the tax was an ‘unforced error’ that was an ‘assault on the Big Society’. Yet again, the government looks thoroughly disorganised as the Budget continues to unravel.