JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: Do charities know what's being said on their behalf?

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

Do charities know what's being said on their behalf?

The Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) is lobbying MPs to support the government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, as I blogged last month. One of our supporters expressed his concern to the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, which belongs to the AMRC. Mr Mike Unger, chief executive, replied: "While we are very happy to be a member of the AMRC, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill does not affect the research we fund and as such I have had no comment to make to the AMRC or indeed any other body." I wonder how many of the member charities of the AMRC were asked if they agreed with the content of the letter reportedly signed by Mr Simon Denegri, the AMRC director.

About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.