 This move allegedly allowed the Alliance to receive tax relief on the donations; Richard Murphy, a campaigner and tax accountant, has stated that the move potentially breached charity law, as UK commission guidelines state that organisations may not be charitable if they have political purposes.A spokesman for the Charity Commission was quoted as saying that the "scope of the investigation is to address the allegations relating to the charity's relationship with the Taxpayers' Alliance"; such cases are opened when "available information indicates misconduct or mismanagement has occurred" or otherwise when actions "may have been improper".John Prescott, former UK Deputy Prime Minister, stated that the Charity Commission's announcement of an investigation showed the Taxpayers' Alliance was "exploiting the taxpayer rather than protecting their interests as they claim to do".