Charities should stay away from politics as it alienates the people who fund them, the culture minister said.

Lucy Fraser, culture minister, said charities should stay out of politics because it alienates the people who fund them. Telegraph Chopper's Politics Podcast — Cracknell, Frazer, Burley

Charity organizations should stay away from politics because it alienates the people who fund them,» said Lucy Fraser, secretary of culture.

The comments will be seen as a rebuke to charities, which were flagged by the charity watchdog earlier this year for criticizing the government's approach to the small boat crisis.

Speaking on the Telegraph Chopper's Politics podcast, Mr. Ms. Frazier said, «I don't think people want their charity, which they give money to, to take political positions from a party point of view.

«They can campaign for the cause they represent, but they should not interfere in politics in the truest sense of the word.”

The comments came after Orlando Fraser, chairman of the Charity Commission, said that charities should remember that they are «not political parties.»

Mr. Fraser's remarks were prompted by concerns from the regulator that charities crossed a line when some criticized the government's plan to send illegal migrants to Rwanda.

'Enter the political arena'

She added: «The head of the Charity Commission is absolutely right that there is this legal line that they need to take and they should do it.

«They can share opinions on their campaign issues, but they can support or push into the political arena.”

Also in the interview, Ms Fraser said that the British should stop “underestimating” the UK and “shouting about our achievements” after the success of the coronation and hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK. Song Contest in Liverpool this month.

“We underestimate ourselves as a country. It's a great British understatement when we always look at ourselves and don't think we're good enough,» she said. should just be proud to be British.”

Ms Fraser added that the UK should be proud of its history and not whitewash elements of its past, such as Britain's links to the slave trade.

“We cannot whitewash what happened in the past. We only learn if we acknowledge and explain, and then move forward,” she said.

“We have to admit where we went wrong. I think we should be direct about where we went wrong and say we learned from it.”

Listen to Christopher Hope's interview. Minister of Culture Lucy Fraser, ex-Olympic rower James Cracknell and television policy producer. Rob Burley on Chopper's Politics, The Telegraph's weekly political podcast, via the audio player at the top of this article, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.