‘Comic Relief missed out on £8m thanks to pathetic Labour MP’
Lammy’s ‘white saviour’ claims led to drop in donations, says Tory
LABOUR MP David Lammy faced calls to apologise yesterday after donations to Comic Relief fell £8million in the aftermath of his ‘ white saviour’ Twitter storm.
Critics blamed the MP’s ‘pathetic manufactured indignation’ for the shortfall, after he accused the charity and Strictly Come Dancing star Stacey Dooley of perpetuating stereotypes about Africa.
It is feared his comments may have deterred people from pledging money as Friday’s telethon raised just £63.5million, compared to £71.3million in 2017, the last Red Nose Day.
Some Comic Relief supporters took to social media to say they had chosen to support other charities because of the controversy.
Conservative MP Chris Philp tweeted: ‘ Pathetic manufactured indignation from David Lammy has caused £8million less money to be raised for charity. The cost of his absurd egotistical posturing is real. This is money that could have been used to save lives. He should fulsomely apologise to stop a repeat next year.’
Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, also joined the criticism. He tweeted: ‘I notice David Lammy wisely keeping quiet while the UK celebrates Comic Relief, raising millions for good causes and raising awareness of our fortunate place in the world and what we can do to help.’
Viewing figures for this year’s event were down 600,000 from 2017 at 5.6million. That is around 50 per cent of the audience in 2009, when 10.3million tuned in. The most successful Comic Relief was in 2011, when £108million was raised.
The row over Miss Dooley’s actions began when she posted an Instagram photograph of herself cradling a black child while filming for Comic Relief in Uganda.
Mr Lammy tweeted the photograph, saying: ‘ The world does not need any more white saviours.
‘This just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes.’ He argued that she had used media ‘to look like a heroine saving “victim” black children’.
Documentary maker Miss Dooley defended herself and said that Comic Relief had raised more than £1billion since its inception and funded projects that had saved lives.
The Daily Mail later traced the five-year-old boy pictured with Miss Dooley, Mwesigwa Waiswa, to a rural village in Eastern Uganda.
His great-uncle Afani Isabirye, 50, was happy to praise Comic Relief for its work in Uganda and he also welcomed Miss Dooley’s visit.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘Maybe it is a “white saviour” thing, but whatever it is we need the help, and if showing what is happening here means we get help, then so be it.’
The BBC also faced criticism from Conservative MPs over a series of films broadcast as part of Red Nose Day, which were seen as political and painted an overly bleak picture of life in Britain.
Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith said a section on food poverty, presented by Sir Lenny Henry, contained ‘ absurd exaggeration’ and ‘socialist nonsense’.
Fellow Tory MP Nigel Evans said it resembled a party political broadcast, telling the Mail on Sunday: ‘This is an advert for Jeremy Corbyn and his brand of politics.’
Singer Ed Sheeran, who spoke about homelessness, was accused of hypocrisy after getting planning permission for railings outside his £8million London home to stop rough sleepers. The £63.5million raised was pledged by the end of events on Friday. The final total for this year is not yet known.
‘Socialist nonsense’