Thank you to everyone who took action
Thank you for telling Comic Relief that its investments in arms company BAE Systems were unacceptable. These investments should never have been made, but we’re glad that Comic Relief decided to ban them for good, recognising that they were in conflict with Comic Relief’s aims, and threatened its reputation.
Holding Comic Relief to account
In 2013 an investigation by BBC’s Panorama revealed that Comic Relief had £630,000 invested in weapons manufacturer BAE Systems in 2009. After the programme, Comic Relief disclosed that it still held investments in BAE.
There was an immediate public outcry but, unbelievably, Comic Relief’s spokespeople continued to defend the investments. As the outcry from donors continued, Comic Relief agreed to review its policy and sold its arms, alcohol and tobacco investments while it conducted the review.
The results of the review – with the recognition that investments in companies that manufacture armaments
should be prohibited – were published in May 2014. You can read more on Comic Relief’s website.
