Trust in Government and NGOs is lower in the UK than in the rest of the world

“It used to be the case that non-governmental organisations (“NGOs”), many of which are charities, were more trusted than any other institutions. But this notion no longer holds true. The latest Edelman Trust Barometer shows business is trusted more than NGOs, with government and the media further behind both,” Brian Monteith writes.

Brian Monteith, a former Member of the European Parliament and former Member of the Scottish Parliament, has penned an article highlighting the results of the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer.

The Edelman Trust Barometer is an annual survey conducted by Edelman, a global communications firm, to measure the level of trust consumers have in business, government, media, and NGOs around the world. The survey has been conducted for more than 25 years and is used to provide insights into global trust trends and to help institutions understand how to build and maintain trust.

 The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer highlights rising societal grievance, declining trust, and the urgent need for leadership to address these issues. Globally, 61% have a moderate or high sense of grievance, which is defined by a belief that government and business make their lives harder and serve narrow interests, and wealthy people benefit unfairly from the system.

In the UK, the report found that trust was lower: 70% of respondents reported moderate to high levels of grievance, and only 17% believed life would improve for the next generation.

Noting that the UK public’s trust in NGOs has fallen, Monteith began his article by asking the question: “Are people finally wakening up to the great harm that NGOs do to our personal freedoms, economic prosperity, cultural values and safety from foreign powers or terrorists?”

“The latest Edelman Trust Barometer shows business is trusted more than NGOs, with government and the media further behind both,” he said.

According to the annual surveys conducted by Edelman, from being the most trusted institutions globally, trust in NGOs has been declining for some years, with the 2020 survey finding that trust in businesses had grown and tied with NGOs, before eventually pulling ahead of them.

Monteith offered a reason why the public no longer trusts NGOs: “There’s nothing wrong with single issue groups proselytising a particular view – that’s free speech – but what is utterly scandalous is when you scratch the surface and look at annual accounts or internal policy documents you find just how many and to what a significant extent today’s NGOs are funded by the taxpayer – only for them to campaign against the democratic choices of those taxpayers.”

Monteith gave a couple of examples of NGOs receiving taxpayer funding while campaigning against government policies.  One of them was Asylum Aid, which received £1.6m of its £1.7m revenue from taxpayers or large donors such as the National Lottery Community Fund, the Open Society Foundation (ER: Soros) and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Asylum Aid is very proud of its role in blocking the plan to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda for processing.

He also gave examples where activist NGOs had ideologically captured regulations.  One such example is Sustain.org, formerly the Children’s Food Campaign, which has been triggering complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, resulting in a steady erosion of advertising freedoms that ultimately burdens hardworking families with additional cost.

“Today’s most influential lobbyists are not corporates seeking change for commercial benefit, but NGOs seeking to act as unelected governments in the sector they wish to control,” Monteith said.

Many NGOs, approved as charities, are unaccountable to the public for the regulations they campaign for and face no consequences if their policies prove to be a failure, leading to increased costs, job losses and limited economic activity.

There are over 170,000 charities in Britain, with a combined income of £96 billion, and many of them use their moral authority to push for tax and ban ideas, dictating industrial and economic policy, energy provision, food standards and broadcast advertising rules.

In the international sphere, some NGOs have been found to make political statements that could impact territorial disputes, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while receiving taxpayer funding for humanitarian relief in Gaza.  “There appears to be no limits to the hypocrisy of some NGOs in running their own agenda that is contrary to the goals of what they take public money for,” Monteith said.

Various scandals involving NGOs have eroded the public’s trust.  For example, the sexual exploitation by Oxfam employees in Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the high salaries paid to senior charity executives.

“No wonder NGOs became less and less trusted. This year’s barometer shows business achieves a public trust level of at least 60% in 15 of 28 countries measured – but for NGOs it’s only 11 of 28, while government is distrusted in 17 of the 28. In addition, only business is seen globally as both competent and ethical,” Monteith said.

[The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer also notes that media is distrusted in 14 out of the 28 countries measured, the United Nations is trusted by less than half the countries (10 out of 28) and the European Union even less so; only 8 countries out of 28 trust the EU with France, Germany and the UK among the least trusting.]

Read the full article ‘Why NGOs are now more distrusted than big business’ by Brian Monteith HERE.