The Prime Minister went to give evidence to a Committee of MPs yesterday about the Big Society. In response to questions, he claimed that:

“we are not sitting back and just hoping that the Big Society springs up. We have established what was called the Big Society Bank, which is now called Big Society Capital. It will get £200 million from the banks under the Merlin agreement.

That will be making grants to small voluntary bodies, so that they can scale up; they can be bigger and they can do more things.”

Sounds good, right? It is just a shame that, back in May, the government agreed that:

“The BSB[Big Society Bank] will not be a grant-making organisation. Funds deployed will therefore seek both financial and social returns.”

No wonder the Big Society isn’t working. Cameron thinks that one of the flagship policies of his government is that they’ve got hundreds of millions of pounds from the banks to give in grants to small voluntary organisations, so that they can build up the Big Society.

Instead, these small voluntary organisations are being offered loans, which will ‘seek a financial return’.

Meanwhile, government cuts mean that voluntary organisations are losing hundreds of millions of pounds in grants.

Reader comments

1. Liberal Conspiracy

   Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

2. Derek Bryant

   Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

3. random

   Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

4. Ebony Dawn Marsh

   Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

5. Sue Jones

   Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

6. Gregory McNeill

   Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

7. Paul Cotterill

   More evidence that Cameron can't do the basics http://t.co/EGa5joHB via @donpaskini He can't tell difference between a grant and a loan.

8. Bill Dishington

   RT @libcon: Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/NuORLAVJ > more #BigSociety bollocks. I keep waiting for a coalition of UK…

9. Garry Haywood

   More evidence that Cameron can't do the basics http://t.co/EGa5joHB via @donpaskini He can't tell difference between a grant and a loan.

10. Brian Moylan

    RT @Burntdish: RT @libcon: Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/GweGbYkO > more #BigSociety bollocks… < #ukpolitics #Cameron

11. Jill Hayward

    More evidence that Cameron can't do the basics http://t.co/EGa5joHB via @donpaskini He can't tell difference between a grant and a loan.

12. Julian Block

    Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

13. Janet Graham

    Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

14. Paul Dicken

    Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

15. malcolm

    Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

16. malcolm

    RT @Burntdish: RT @libcon: Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/GweGbYkO > more #BigSociety bollocks… < #ukpolitics #Cameron

17. Watching You

    Cameron's latest Big Society blunder http://t.co/Bevx7Zep

18. Steve

    More evidence that Cameron can't do the basics http://t.co/EGa5joHB via @donpaskini He can't tell difference between a grant and a loan.

19. Alex Braithwaite

    Cameron’s latest Big Society blunder | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/2rRg5TIK via @libcon

20. richardbrennan

    Cameron’s latest Big Society blunder | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/f1QE7I5K via @libcon

21. Sue Davies

    Cameron’s latest Big Society blunder | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/k0R2HOWb via @libcon

22. Think Left

    Cameron’s latest Big Society blunder | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/k0R2HOWb via @libcon