Esther McVey has criticised the BBC over the Celebrity Traitors prize money being donated to refugee charities, arguing the funds should have gone to British veterans ahead of Remembrance Day.
Appearing on Duncan Barkes' TalkTV show after the final of the second series, the Daily Express columnist was asked about viewers' claims that the donation was "virtue signalling on behalf of the BBC".
Prize money donated to refugee charities
Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian 'Bash' Croft won the series as Faithfuls, with both announcing their prize winnings would go to refugee charities. The £83,000 will be split between the Refugee Council, chosen by Ranganathan, and Choose Love, which supports displaced LGBTQ+ people.
McVey responded: "Oh, absolutely. I get people can give their money to whoever they want, but this definitely seems like virtue signalling."
She added: "It also shows how disconnected the BBC are. I know we've talked about this before, but this notion of bias that the BBC have got, this notion of being out of touch, this notion of not really understanding what the working class want, what the viewers want… this was shown, really, in them both giving their money to those sort of refugee charities."
Call for funds to support veterans
McVey suggested the money should have been directed to veterans instead, saying: "I would have given it, possibly, would you not think, as we're now coming up to Remembrance Sunday, would you not have said, 'Let's give it to our veterans, who are being treated really shoddily?'"
She referenced the defence budget, noting: "The defence budget took out £1billion which would have gone to upgrading their accommodation. Don't you think the money should have gone to veterans?"
McVey concluded: "Well, I do, 100%, I would have given 100% of it to them. So out of touch, and I think they'll just be losing more viewing figures on the back of that, really."
Social media reaction divided
The segment sparked controversy on social media, immediately dividing viewers. One person wrote: "Here's a clue - in a democracy people have the choice to decide who they donate to and what they do with their own money."
Another argued: "They filmed it in May!"
However, someone else said: "They wouldn't do that, they seem to forget the freedoms they enjoy thanks to the brave men and women who paid the ultimate price and made the ultimate sacrifice for us to live the life we do today. Sickening."
Another added: "The BBC only survives on taxpayers' money. The cash prize was paid from taxpayers' money. The virtue signallers decided to reroute that money to refugee/migrant NGOs, most of them are funded by taxpayers' money. So, it's all part of the same £5billion scam to fund illegals."
