A BBC freelance newsreader has been sacked by the broadcaster after creating an anti-Keir Starmer charity Christmas song.
Chris Middleton, 33, unmasked himself as the brainchild behind Freezing This Christmas, which was released under the fake band name Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers.
The parody song of Mud’s 1974 hit Lonely This Christmas is about the government’s slashing of winter fuel payments for pensioners and the resulting ‘hardship’ and has raised more than £50,000 for Age UK.
Mr Middleton, who was a freelance newsreader for BBC Newcastle, revealed that he had been ‘let go’ by the corporation because of a ‘conflict of interest’.
He had intended to release the tune anonymously but said he had ‘no choice’ but to go public when it started gaining media attention.
Mr Middleton told GB News: ‘Do I stay anonymous and maybe the song won’t do as well?
‘Or do I put my face out there, put my name out there, and try to push the song as much as possible and raise awareness, knowing that potentially it would cost me my freelance job with the BBC?’
He told bosses that he was going to appear on Martin Daubney’s GB News programme to chat about his song to which Mr Middleton said they replied: ‘OK, basically you can’t work here any more.’
‘I was told, because it was a conflict of interest, it would be against the BBC’s impartiality rules to allow me to continue my job as a newsreader while also putting out a song which of course was political, but the main goal of it was to raise money and raise awareness for pensioners,’ he said.
Mr Middleton had freelanced at the BBC for six years and said he ‘mulled over’ the decision as ‘it’s quite a big thing in my life’.
With the BBC income only being a small part of what he earns, he said he made the ‘right decision’ to go public knowing what would happen in order to raise as much cash as possible for Age UK.
‘Had the BBC been my full income, as it is for a lot of freelancers, then I would have probably been in a position where I wouldn’t have been able to do it, because I wouldn’t have had money to pay rent or for food or for heating,’ he said.
‘That goes to show the position that some people are in – if your whole livelihood is reliant upon your job, you’re not going to speak out.’
The BBC has been approached by MailOnline for comment.
The track, which reached number 37 in the Christmas charts, was sung by Frank Sinatra impersonator Dean Ager, 51, from Worthing, who recorded it in just 15 minutes.
The song features the lyrics: ‘It’ll be freezing this Christmas, without fuel at home, it’ll be freezing this Christmas, while Keir Starmer is warm. It’ll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home, this Christmas.’
Mr Middleton said he was inspired by ‘something on Twitter a couple of months ago about trying to do a Christmas song for pensioners’ and that the hook of the chorus then ‘just came’ to him.
Speaking to the Telegraph in December, Ager said that Mr Middleton had stumbled across him online when he was looking for a singer for the record and offered just £50 for him to perform the track.
Ager explained: ‘Chris contacted me and said ”I’ve got this song – can you do it?” He paid me £50 and I recorded it in about 15 minutes. I already knew the tune, well-ish, and so I sent it and scurried off on my way. I thought that would be the end of it.
‘When Chris asked me if I wanted recognition I looked at the lyrics again and thought ”Wow, that’s something”, but when he told me we were number one on the iTunes download charts, I was jumping around in excitement like a little kid.’
Mr Middleton was raised by his grandparents for several years and says he has seen first-hand how damaging Labour’s fuel payment policy had been.
He said: ‘Older people do feel the cold more.
‘My gran had a heart attack and her medication makes her blood vessels constrict so she is always freezing. Even in summer, she’s bundled up by the fire.
‘After 14 years of the Tories we were all fed up, and we thought things would be different under Labour, but it’s way worse than anyone thought.’
This guy should get a knighthood ‘for services to the elderly’ as he did this off his own back. He has helped others and has sacrificed his income as a consequence, and clearly, the BBC are Labour supporters, and run by champagne socialists!
Comes to something when you’re sacked for telling the truth and raising money for a worthwhile charity. I’m surprised he’s not yet been arrested for some far-right lame reason, that’s what usually happens – watch this space!
Elderly people are freezing this winter, but I bet it’s been lovely and warm in the Commons.
I was really hoping that the song would reach number one, and it appears that if you show any conflict in Starmer’s Britain you will be cancelled. Commit a crime or worse, then you’ll be okay.
We believed that things would be different under Labour, but they’re far more sinister than anyone thought, and they will continue to get worse.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 