Send pictures to us
Send us your pictures and video by text, email or by uploading. Click here to find out how. »
|
|
|
|
Inquiry into charity slogan row
7:04am Monday 7th January 2008
A NATIONAL cancer charity has launched an investigation into how a Hampshire parliamentary candidate was allowed to use its campaign for a political leaflet.
Breast Cancer Care says it is investigating the controversial questionnaire by the Conservative candidate for Romsey and Southampton North, Caroline Nokes, which used its In The Pink slogan to question residents about their political views.
Residents and rival politicians hit out at the leaflet, which had nothing to do with breast cancer and asked people how they would vote in the next election.
It also included a promise by Mrs Nokes to donate money to the charity for every questionnaire returned.
Nicky Scott, spokeswoman for Breast Cancer Care, replied to a letter by Hampshire and Test Valley councillor Alan Dowden calling for an explanation following complaints from local residents.
She said: "Having looked into the matter, we have established that an error on the part of a member of the fundraising team means that as an organisation Breast Cancer Care did give Mrs Nokes permission for this activity.
"We are quite clear that this should not have happened and that our branding should not have been used in conjunction with the survey."
Caroline Nokes declined to comment on the matter.
Your Say YourEcho
uMuppet, says...
8:49am Mon 7 Jan 08
Caroline Nokes declined to comment on the matter.
Why? If she can't represent herself she's got no chance of representing her constituents!
Does anyone else from the conservative party have an opinion on this?
Adrian Smith, says...
9:29am Mon 7 Jan 08
uMuppet wrote:The party are probably trying to estabish how to remove this train wreck - before a votes for donates scandal breaks.
Caroline Nokes declined to comment on the matter.Why? If she can't represent herself she's got no chance of representing her constituents! Does anyone else from the conservative party have an opinion on this?
Well let's hope so.
Red Rooster, Bitterne says...
9:51am Mon 7 Jan 08
Rollo Verundie, Southampton says...
10:08am Mon 7 Jan 08
uMuppet wrote:Denzil is unusually quiet too & Romsey is a small place.
Caroline Nokes declined to comment on the matter.Why? If she can't represent herself she's got no chance of representing her constituents! Does anyone else from the conservative party have an opinion on this?
fact is, says...
10:50am Mon 7 Jan 08
natahan k, Bassett says...
11:02am Mon 7 Jan 08
fact is wrote:rubbish it's completley different, the whole survey was bright pink and designed with the charities logo and charity number right at the top, it was clearly done to try and make people think it was a survey from breast cancer care, or at the very least that she was associated with them. The only real question is how on earth she thought it was acceptable, at the very least she could appologise for making such an error in judgement, doing something that was in such poor taste and calling the charity into question.
She was given permission to use the slogan (read the article)If she stands by her donation claim then she has done no wrong. In todays modern market, incentives are always used to illicit info or sell goods;this is no different, she simply says fill out and return this form and I will donate X amount to charity...
natahan k, Bassett says...
11:07am Mon 7 Jan 08
liberal territory, says...
11:57am Mon 7 Jan 08
natahan k wrote:
rubbish the survey was bright pink and had the charity number quioted right at the top on the front page, she has absolutely done something wrong, also something cynical and underhand and in very poor taste, as most people have said I just hope SHE has not done damage to the charity in question, surely she has people around her that would advise her that this sort of thing is a terrible idea.
It also included a promise by Mrs Nokes to donate money to the charity for every questionnaire returned.
This leaflet was given the green light by the local fundraising department. Here is how the conversation went...
CN "we want to send out a questionnaire to all the residents in this geographical area, so that we can give people an incentive to fill them out and send them back we would like to donate to your charity for every one that we receive back, is this OK with you"?
"Yes it is"
CN "Can we use your logo etc for our questionnaire"
"Yes you can"
Where is the harm? Are people in this area seriously stupid enough to think that because this tory donates to a charity that the charity is saying "you must vote for this woman"
Nonsense, get real. Ths candidate wanted to guage how people intended to vote, knowing the general apathy of the public it is likely that without an incentive of sorts the response level would be very low.
natahan k, says...
12:03pm Mon 7 Jan 08
As for returns being very low without her using someone elses logo in place of her own parties, well boo hoo people don't want to tell her how they vote, its not really any of her business.
All political parties do stuff like this but only she feels like she has to pretend to be something she isn't to get people to write back.
Gladstone, Southampton says...
12:39pm Mon 7 Jan 08
Arnold DeVere, Romsey says...
1:00pm Mon 7 Jan 08
She has blatantly acquired spurious permission from someone the charity rates little higher than than the tea-lady in their organisation.
This smacks of callous duplicity and Breast Cancer Care will no doubt be seriously harmed by her selfish actions.
Mrs Nokes has shown terrible judgement and an inability to communicate effectively with a major organisation.
How on earth would she be able to represent people to ministers or to civil servants?
Food dog, south coast says...
1:14pm Mon 7 Jan 08
Arnold DeVere wrote:Right on Arnold, another politician forgets that it is us, the public, who put themn in office. Please do not vote for this person.
I have been a Conservative voter for 50 years and I will not vote for Mrs Nokes at the next election. She has blatantly acquired spurious permission from someone the charity rates little higher than than the tea-lady in their organisation. This smacks of callous duplicity and Breast Cancer Care will no doubt be seriously harmed by her selfish actions. Mrs Nokes has shown terrible judgement and an inability to communicate effectively with a major organisation. How on earth would she be able to represent people to ministers or to civil servants?
Simon, Bitterne says...
1:43pm Mon 7 Jan 08
natahan k wrote:Stipulating the charity's registered number is to confirm authenticity so that there is no mis- representation.
there are laws that stop charities supporting political parties, I know there are people who support this charity who do not support the conservatives and would think twice about giving money to a chairty who allow themself to be used in this way, the charity said in the papaer that ajunior fundraiser had accidently given permission for their name to be used, that hardly seems the same using their logo their registered charity number and the name of their big campaign for the year. As for returns being very low without her using someone elses logo in place of her own parties, well boo hoo people don't want to tell her how they vote, its not really any of her business. All political parties do stuff like this but only she feels like she has to pretend to be something she isn't to get people to write back.
I am interested how one can "Accidently give permission for their name to be used"
I know there are people who support this charity who do not support the conservativesThen this would be an ideal time to let that be known and still ensure the charity receives a donation.
would think twice about giving money to a chairty who allow themself to be used in this way
Contradictory - I would have thought that if they were a truesupporter of the charity then they wouldn't want to penalise the efforts in raising donations.
Are you just a disgruntled supporter of another party venting your frustrations, using this particular piece as a vehicle? You sound as though you may be just as bad as Ms. Nokes. (In your opinion)
uMuppet, says...
2:39pm Mon 7 Jan 08
uMuppet, says...
3:00pm Mon 7 Jan 08
simple simon, Eastleigh says...
3:11pm Mon 7 Jan 08
Wise up., says...
3:15pm Mon 7 Jan 08
uMuppet wrote:This whole story is about pawns.
Correct me if I'm wrong... but the charity have held their hands up and said they were mistaken, Mrs Nokes on the other hand refuses to comment at all, why? Anyone who defends her above want to answer that one?
The Tories used a charity donation scheme to facilitate market intelligence.
The lib dem councillor was conveniently in 'uproar' about it.
We all jump on it demanding apologies etc. See it for what it is nothing more than political jostling from lightwight local politicians. I hope that the charity received the appropriate sum as a donation.(That would be a story if they didn't) Highly unlikely that the charity's donations will suffer as giving to charities in the main, is born out of some kind of personal experience/tragedy or a firm commitment to a cause.
Message to all "Get off the bandwagon and stop being pawns"
Itzel Indespin, says...
4:01pm Mon 7 Jan 08
uMuppet wrote:As soon as I have drafted a response to all the criticism, she will make a heartfelt, unreserved apology. Of course it wasn't entirely her fault, the greedy charity will have to shoulder some of the blame, oh and the Lib dems have done similar things and so would've the Labour party if they thought of it. So she really isnt that bad and the tories will win the next election - Hoorah.
Correct me if I'm wrong... but the charity have held their hands up and said they were mistaken, Mrs Nokes on the other hand refuses to comment at all, why? Anyone who defends her above want to answer that one?
fooddog, south coast says...
4:03pm Mon 7 Jan 08
Wise up. wrote:Totally understand where you are coming from, the only slight problem with your logic is that some times, if we are really unlucky these light weights become heavy weights. I for one will allways complain when some one who want to lord it over me does wrong.
uMuppet wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong... but the charity have held their hands up and said they were mistaken, Mrs Nokes on the other hand refuses to comment at all, why? Anyone who defends her above want to answer that one?This whole story is about pawns. The Tories used a charity donation scheme to facilitate market intelligence. The lib dem councillor was conveniently in 'uproar' about it. We all jump on it demanding apologies etc. See it for what it is nothing more than political jostling from lightwight local politicians. I hope that the charity received the appropriate sum as a donation.(That would be a story if they didn't) Highly unlikely that the charity's donations will suffer as giving to charities in the main, is born out of some kind of personal experience/tragedy or a firm commitment to a cause. Message to all "Get off the bandwagon and stop being pawns"
Harry Remmington, New Forest says...
6:00pm Mon 7 Jan 08
She's monosyllabic and only her mummy and daddy can make her lips move.
P.S. Mummy and Daddy are also amateur part time politicians only in it for the money.
nathan k, Bassett says...
6:20pm Mon 7 Jan 08
As for peoples support for the charity not being shaken, I know at least one person who has taken part in fundraising for them before who thinks they might switch to one of the other leading cancer charities lets face it there are a fair ew out there.
On a final I also read the charity siad they cannot accept any donations stemming from this survey becasue it would not be appropriate.
Under the curcumstances I don't feel like a pawn thinking that an appology is due at the very least to the charity.
and as for Itzel labelling the chairty as greedy does very little for your credibility and when have Labour the the Lib Dems done anythign similar? I feel fairly sure we would have condemned them just as much at the time, but I don;t think either of them has ever shown such bad judgement.
elizabeth sowerby, southampton says...
7:03pm Mon 7 Jan 08
baggy faced berk!, southampton says...
8:22pm Mon 7 Jan 08
Red Rooster, Bitterne says...
11:33pm Mon 7 Jan 08
Breast Cancer Care has now said that they don't want any donation from Caroline Nokes or the Tories. So Nokes gets to keep all her money.
Just out of curiousity, doesn't that in itself create problems with regards to the trades descriptions act? Some people may have actually filled in this survey in order to get Nokes to make a donation. Now, because of her own ineptitude, she gets out of having to give the charity any money.
It's coldly brilliant, in a way.
peter sowerby, southampton says...
6:30pm Tue 8 Jan 08
uMuppet wrote:I hope the echo declines her comments during her election campaigns.The keep your head down tory cllr nokes must not be allowed to get away with the damage she has caused to this charity
Caroline Nokes declined to comment on the matter.Why? If she can\'t represent herself she\'s got no chance of representing her constituents! Does anyone else from the conservative party have an opinion on this?
elizabeth sowerby, southampton says...
9:49am Wed 9 Jan 08
Adrian Smith wrote:The gravy train more likley The nokes and perryland express with even the mother on board
uMuppet wrote:The party are probably trying to estabish how to remove this train wreck - before a votes for donates scandal breaks. Well let's hope so.Caroline Nokes declined to comment on the matter.Why? If she can't represent herself she's got no chance of representing her constituents! Does anyone else from the conservative party have an opinion on this?
Your sayYourEcho
Add your comment
Register for a FREE Daily Echo account and you can have your say on today's news and sport by adding comments on articles we publish. The best comments may even get published in the paper.
Please register now or sign in below to continue.
Caroline Nokes
In this section
- Tenth floor death plunge of elderly man was suicide
- ‘We couldn’t afford to fight on for our Winchester pub’
- The Daily Echo backed Southampton Voluntary Services Christmas Toy Appeal
- Organic farm is in jeopardy
- FOSSI the bear joins campaign for a playground
- Totton teachers return to school with apples
- Santa’s flying visit to Stockbridge
- Over 1,300 complaints lodged about Christmas blunderland
- Hampshire man guilty of schoolgirl murder
- Body found in lorry on Hampshire motorway
Sponsored Links
|
|
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Major Sir Jerry Pending, Ward 10 says...
8:33am Mon 7 Jan 08