Dear All
It seems that the controversial Islamic lobbying group, The Scottish Islamic Foundation continues to attract interest.
The interest is not on what they say or think rather how they spend public money.
The Scottish Government, the opposition and the press all have a keen interest in this matter.
The SIF has been dogged by allegations of cronyism and incompetence since its creation in 2008.
And rather than stepping up to the mark, they continue to exhibit a less than startling performance with an impressive track record of failure to deliver.
They can’t even file their accounts at Companies House, despite having nine months to get them in order and prepare them.
There is now a case for an independent audit of this organisation and I would suggest the people running it should take a long hard look at themselves and ask if they would be better off closing it down.
The SIF has had £400,000 of grants poured into it by the Scottish Government, £128,000 they have since had to return as a festival called Islamfest failed to materialise.
Another festival, this time financial has also been abandoned.
A third, a cultural one is still in the pipeline but given their record, that maybe scrapped as well.
According to emails released under FOI law, SIF treasurer Tahra Mahmood wrote to the Scottish Government last July asking for guidance as it was about to start work on its financial statements.
In August, the Government’s Equality Unit replied that it wanted all Government grants to be detailed separately.
They said;
“This would aid transparency and our review of the audited accounts. In addition to this, might it be possible for your auditors to provide us with a Letter of Comfort, stating that the funds supplied by the Scottish Government were used as intended according to the grant criteria?”
My view on this organisation is the same as the SPT; the Scottish Government should have the courage to step in and kill it stone dead.
With both the Tories and Labour calling for a cross-party inquiry, this should be heeded and approved.
One thing for certain is that questions on the SIF will not be going away anytime soon.
At present the view of its Chief Executive to public interest in its dealings is;
“I’m not full-time. I’m not dealing with you on this”.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
It seems that the controversial Islamic lobbying group, The Scottish Islamic Foundation continues to attract interest.
The interest is not on what they say or think rather how they spend public money.
The Scottish Government, the opposition and the press all have a keen interest in this matter.
The SIF has been dogged by allegations of cronyism and incompetence since its creation in 2008.
And rather than stepping up to the mark, they continue to exhibit a less than startling performance with an impressive track record of failure to deliver.
They can’t even file their accounts at Companies House, despite having nine months to get them in order and prepare them.
There is now a case for an independent audit of this organisation and I would suggest the people running it should take a long hard look at themselves and ask if they would be better off closing it down.
The SIF has had £400,000 of grants poured into it by the Scottish Government, £128,000 they have since had to return as a festival called Islamfest failed to materialise.
Another festival, this time financial has also been abandoned.
A third, a cultural one is still in the pipeline but given their record, that maybe scrapped as well.
According to emails released under FOI law, SIF treasurer Tahra Mahmood wrote to the Scottish Government last July asking for guidance as it was about to start work on its financial statements.
In August, the Government’s Equality Unit replied that it wanted all Government grants to be detailed separately.
They said;
“This would aid transparency and our review of the audited accounts. In addition to this, might it be possible for your auditors to provide us with a Letter of Comfort, stating that the funds supplied by the Scottish Government were used as intended according to the grant criteria?”
My view on this organisation is the same as the SPT; the Scottish Government should have the courage to step in and kill it stone dead.
With both the Tories and Labour calling for a cross-party inquiry, this should be heeded and approved.
One thing for certain is that questions on the SIF will not be going away anytime soon.
At present the view of its Chief Executive to public interest in its dealings is;
“I’m not full-time. I’m not dealing with you on this”.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
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