Just for one day - Live Aid to foodbanks

The Old Vic production of Just for One Day focuses on the Live Aid concert of 13 July 1985. It was a momentous occasion, as leading musicians from across the world came together to put on a momentous show. The aim to raise money to alleviate famine in Ethiopia. David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Elton John and Queen were among those who performed. The hits ring out in this great celebration. The story is also of how Boomtown Rats lead singer, Bob Geldof, moved heaven and earth, with the help of a few others, to make it happen. A shout out here for Wanstead resident, Jackie Clune, who plays a central role, as narrator, Suzanne, in the production. Just for One Day brought back memories of the 1980s, raising money to try to alleviate poverty around the world. People coming together to get change. Yet, these actions by thousands of young people were rather against the political narrative of the time. It was the decade of Margaret Thatcher, the mantra of greed is good and there is no such thing as society. The response of the Thatcher government to crises like the famine in Ethiopia was grudging to put it mildly. The musical covers how Thatcher was literally dragged along with the popular clamour to act. Never slow to see a good PR opportunity, she clambered aboard. The Thatcher government though was always happier selling weapons around the world than promoting peace - a tradition that her successors in government today have continued. The Live Aid/Band Aid extravaganzas bred a whole plethora of charitable enterprise headed by celebs looking for good PR - from Comic and Sport Relief to Children in Need. All do great work but all are about charity. They are not about changing the unjust structures that create the crises in the first place. At best, they are a plaster on the wound (a band aid), at worst an excuse to not really act. The charity versus justice question was illustrated to me a few years ago, when campaigning for refugees locally. A church congregation reacted with great generosity to a call for clothing, foodstuffs etc to support refugees. There was, though, decidedly less interest in examining why the refugees had fled their own countries seeking sanctuary elsewhere. Today, things seem to have come full circle since 1985. The country is richer now than then, yet foodbanks proliferate. Feeding the world has taken on a whole wider meaning. Tory politicians praise the institution of food banks rather than hang their heads in shame that they have become necessary here. Charity will always be needed but charity must never obfuscate the need to attain justice. Only then can the real obstacle to a more equal, just world be attained. Just for One Day is on until 30 March