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    Calls to strip Devon monks of charitable status

    The Devon Monks who make Buckfast Wine should be stripped of their charitable status according to the National Secular Society.

    The National Secular Society have written to the Charity Commission urging them to investigate the Buckfast Abbey Trust, after it was revealed the monks made £8.8 millionfrom the controversial tonic wine last year.

    They are asking the religious charity be stripped of their charitable status because the alcohol drink is linked with criminal activity in Scotland.

    Currently, Buckfast Abbey doesn't pay tax on its income from the wine because it is a charity, with the National Secular Society arguing that it amounts to an "abuse of the charitable system".

    The trust justifies its existence as a charity in its annual report, stating its aim is the "advancement of the Roman Catholic religion".

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