On 30 June 2026 I published on the Defence Alternatives website an article entitled ‘Is altruism shooting us in the foot?’. In that article I mistakenly conflated the humanitarian charity Human Appeal UK with an entirely separate and unrelated organisation with a similar name. I accept that the resulting article was written without adequate due diligence.
As a consequence my article included very serious, false and defamatory allegations about Human Appeal UK. The article concerned has been removed from the website and will not be republished, nor those allegations repeated. I accept that the allegations had the potential to cause serious reputational harm to Human Appeal UK and I retract them in full.
I understand that Human Appeal UK is a law-abiding humanitarian charity regulated under UK law, registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Charity Registration Number: 1154288). I also acknowledge Human Appeal UK’s stated humanitarian impact, including that last year it reported it saved and transformed the lives of 7 million people around the world.
I apologise unreservedly to Human Appeal UK, and to its staff, volunteers, partners and supporters, for the distress and damage my publication may have caused.
Tim Mahon
Publisher – Defence Alternatives
