I was once told that the French don't like the concept of charities or volunteer organisations which at first I thought was quite anti social of them. Until of course I realised that their viewpoint was that charity and voluntary work should be completely unnecessary. Given that the populace pay their taxes the government can therefore afford to fund them so all should be funded, hence the reluctance to encourage charity.
I see no reason for the UK to contribute to India's space program, nor become involved in yet another middle east war on the behest of Israel before funding vital projects at home. It's a marvellous thing that so many altruistic volunteers are willing to step in and make a difference, but when government think tanks are set up as charities in order to receive funding why not everyone else.