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How Comic Relief invests millions in arms, tobacco and alcohol: Panorama expose also reveals charity is sitting on £100m and will not say how money is spent
- Charity invests cash in controversial firms to fund £17m running costs
- Documentary was shelved for two months by nervous BBC execs
- Charity is ‘risking reputation’, says ethical investment expert
- But Comic Relief says ‘ethical screening’ would ‘increase financial risk’
By Tom Kelly and Alasdair Glennie
Comic Relief was yesterday accused of misleading donors by investing millions of pounds raised during televised appeals in tobacco, alcohol and the arms industry.
The charity – which claims that ‘every penny’ given by the public helps good causes – pumps cash into the companies even as it backs projects to help victims of smoking-related illnesses, alcohol abuse and war.
According to a BBC Panorama expose, the charity is also sitting on £100million donated by the public and refuses to say how the money is being invested.
The returns on the charity’s investments are used to fund its ballooning running costs, which have hit £17million a year, largely because its wage bill has nearly doubled in four years.
The damning revelations will be made tonight in a Panorama investigation which was initially shelved for two months because executives at the Corporation were anxious about offending the Comic Relief bosses.
The programme, called All in a Good Cause, will be shown at 10.35pm, two hours later than Panorama normally airs.
It also claims Save the Children censored its criticism of the energy industry because of its cosy relationship with British Gas and EDF, and alleges Amnesty misled the public over £800,000 payoffs to two former bosses.
Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk
Source: http://www.philosophers-stone.co.uk/?p=5045
