The Charity Commission has criticised the conduct of trustees at a charity it has been investigating over “concerning comments” made by its chair about Jewish people.

The regulator began investigating Muslin think tank and research institute The Oxford Initiative for British Islam last year over the comments made by its chair Taj Hargey.

This included Hargey in an interview “drawing a comparison between Zionism and Nazism” and calling for politicians with links to Judaism or Zionism to be ‘identified’ so that ‘the public should know that [they] are not objective and unbiased’”.

The Commission says that due to a lack of cooperation by trustees during its probe it had to spend “considerable resources chasing” them “in pursuit of crucial information”.

“This resulted in the Commission having to exercise its powers on two occasions to compel the trustees, by way of a legal order, to provide both answers to questions and certain documents,” said the regulator.

During its probe the regulator was told by trustees that Hargey’s comments were made “in a personal capacity, not on behalf of the charity”.

But while the regulator said it recognises “the importance of freedom of expression for those leading charities but also expects trustees to be aware of the potential impact of comments on their charity’s reputation”.

The regulator found that the trustees had “failed to take sufficient action to distinguish the charity’s identity from the chair’s comments in a personal capacity, in order to protect the charity’s reputation”.

It added that “The chair’s name is often publicly associated with the charity, as it was in reporting of these comments.”

The charity has now been issued with regulatory guidance requiring the trustees “to implement effective written policies and procedures to manage situations in future”.

Financial concerns

In addition, the regulator has handed the charity an official warning over repeated financial failings.

It failed to file its accounts on time with the Charity Commission for five consecutive years, for the years ending December 2019 to 2023. The number of days late totalled 1,152.

“The law requires all trustees to meet core duties and responsibilities, including to prepare and submit financial reporting documents on time, to protect their charity’s reputation and good name, and to cooperate with the Commission’s enquiries,” said Charity Commission assistant director of investigations and compliance Steve Roake.

“Sadly, our case involving the Oxford Initiative for British Islam found that the trustees repeatedly failed to meet their legal duties and responsibilities, putting the charity at risk of harm.

“We also found that the trustees did not take sufficient steps to distance their charity from comments made by its chair and are critical of the trustees for this failure. We hope the trustees will learn lessons from these incidents to improve the charity’s governance for the future.”

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