Ed Sheeran, Fuse ODG: do they know they’re dead right about Band Aid? Africa needs more than a singalong

Band Aid's 40th-anniversary version of Do They Know It’s Christmas ? features a mashup of previous versions into a new “ultimate mix” The BBC plans to “mark the 40th anniversary of Band Aid with a documentary with a complete documentary that has never been broadcast”.

Instead of a serious conversation about reparations or a Marshall plan for Africa , we get super dehumanising adverts seeking 50p a month and a well-timed national singalong that we trot out at the exact moment we should be speaking about economic justice and repair.

Fuse ODG, Ed Sheeran , and other critics: they’re on to something. If people want to take a view of how to make this a fairer world, I applaud that. But we need long-term solutions.