The Charity Commission’s investigation into transgender charity Mermaids has been branded a “whitewash” by former Conservative MP Miriam Cates, after the watchdog found the organisation had been “mismanaged”.
Following a two-year investigation, the Commission concluded that the charity “must ensure parents are informed if it provides chest binders to children in future” and “be clearer about puberty blocker risks” after receiving multiple complaints from concerned parents.
The Commission found that of the 125 binders supplied by the charity between September 2021 and September 2022, 15 were supplied to young people between the ages of 13 and 16 – without the knowledge of parents.
However, the regulator found “no evidence” of other complaints against Mermaids, including that it provided “medical advice to young people”.
Miriam Cates criticised the ‘whitewash’ report into transgender charity Mermaids
GB News / Mermaids
Hitting out at the report, former Conservative MP Miriam Cates scolded the Commission’s conclusions and claimed that her “preference” would be for Mermaids to be “shut down all together”.
Citing her calls to Parliament in 2022 for the organisation to be investigated, Cates explained: “I called for a police investigation. This is actually a Charity Commission investigation that was sparked by many, many complaints, not just from me, but also many parents who complained to the Charity Commission.
“And although the recommendations about removing misinformation about puberty blockers and other things have caught the headlines, actually the report is really a whitewash.”
Detailing the findings of the Commission, Cates fumed that the charity is merely receiving a “slap on the wrist” in comparison to the issues raised by the complaints to the watchdog.
The charity has denied ‘providing medical advice or acting improperly in our work with children’
Cates told GB News: “This is about whether or not Mermaids complied administratively with charity law, which of course is important, but spectacularly misses the point.
“Which is the fact that this is a charity that promotes gender ideology to children, tells children they’re born in the wrong body, sets them on a route to perhaps medical surgical sterilisation and was implicated in the Tavistock scandal.”
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Cates added: “So unfortunately, although the Charity Commission has its own job to do and is assessing Mermaids against charity law, this is really just a slap on the wrist from an administrative point of view, and does not get to the heart of the issue.”
Highlighting the key issues raised by complainants, despite the outcome of the report, Cates argued that there are “complete safeguarding failures” within the charity itself.
Cates fumed: “If you read the report, it completely fails to acknowledge the safeguarding risks of having a charity that’s working with children, talking about gender identity and sexuality, and sending breast binders to children behind their parent’s back.
“These are complete safeguarding failures that aren’t picked up in the report at all, and it’s really just about whether the charity was managing its affairs correctly.”
Former Tory MP Miriam Cates called for the charity to be ‘shut down’ following the report
GB News
Turning the discussion to previous controversies surrounding Mermaids, host Ben Leo highlighted that the charity was involved with former trustee Jacob Breslow, who resigned after it was discovered that Breslow attended a conference in 2011 organised by a body that called for paedophiles to have the right to live in “truth and dignity”.
Expressing her shock over the incident, Cates concluded: “Mermaids did sack this person once that was found out.
“But of course, the fact that this person could have been employed in a children’s charity without the due diligence bit taking place is just shocking.”
In a statement for Mermaids, Chairman of trustees Catherine Downes said: “The Charity Commission had confirmed, as we have repeatedly asserted, that we have not provided medical advice or acted improperly in our work with children, young people and their families.”