I was watching the UK’s annual Comic Relief extravaganza last night. So far they have raised £74.3m and I’m sure there is much more to come before the final total is confirmed. Very laudable and worthy, of course, but why do we need it?

I’m always amazed by the charity of the ‘ordinary man in the street’ but I just can’t seem to get my head around why Joe and Jane Bloggs have to be cajoled, brow-beaten and badgered, over a whole evening’s broadcasting, to put their hands in their none-to-deep pockets to try and make a difference to the abject poverty in Africa and other countries, not to mention closer to home in the UK.    Continue reading →