Catholic Aid agency Cafod has announced that it will not accept royalties from the controversial political memoirs written by its media executive, Damian McBride, after concerns that its reputation could be damaged.
The charity had been due to receive half the royalties from the book, Power Trip: A Decade of Policy, Plots and Spin, which disclosed Mr McBride’s unethical behaviour, including planting negative stories aimed at Labour Government Ministers during his time working at 10 Downing Street when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister.
Mr McBride was sacked as Mr Brown’s press adviser four years ago after he was exposed plotting to circulate false stories about Conservative MPs.
This week Cafod’s director, Chris Bain, said that in response to feedback from members of the Catholic community the charity would no longer profit from sales of the book.
“After careful reflection, the trustees and senior management of Cafod have decided to decline the royalties from the book written by Damian McBride,” said Mr Bain in a statement.
Mr McBride said: “As I wrote in The Catholic Herald last year, Cafod sees itself as nothing more than the sum of its supporters, its core purpose the living expression of their faith. Given the concerns raised by a number of those supporters about proceeds from my book being used to support the agency’s work, it is totally understandable that Cafod has rejected my proposed donation, and I can only apologise for the critical and unfair associations made between the book and Cafod’s work over the last fortnight.” He now plans to offer all the royalties to his old school, Finchley Catholic High, where he worked as business and community manager after being sacked from his Whitehall job. Cafod’s decision was welcomed by many of those who had expressed concern about the charity receiving part of the proceeds from the McBride book.
Mike Craven, former political adviser to John (now Lord) Prescott when he was Deputy Prime Minister, agreed with the decision, saying: “I am very pleased with Cafod’s decision not to benefit financially from this morally questionable book and think this will be the end of the matter.”
“I think they have made a sensible choice,” said the former Cabinet Secretary Lord (Gus) O’Donnell, who criticised Mr McBride for writing the book, given his one-time role as a civil servant.
However, Baroness (Helena) Kennedy QC argued that Cafod should have accepted the royalties, saying: “Damian McBride has behaved appallingly and he knows it. He wants to do some good with the proceeds of the book and Cafod does wonderful work that struggles to find funding. This is not the proceeds of crime.”
Francis Davis, who served as a government policy adviser under both Labour and the Conservative-led coalition, was also disappointed by Cafod’s announcement. “What better way to wash the money clean than in feeding the poor?” he said. “It’s a great shame that Cafod aren’t taking the royalties.”
Mr McBride will keep his share of the proceeds from the serialisation of the book in the Daily Mail. This is estimated at £130,000.
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