Suella Braverman’s husband described Live Aid as “No political flags and no lectures”, and got owned back to 1985 – 15 towering takedowns
Astonishingly, it’s 40 years since the Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia played to a global audience of almost two billion, with a dazzling array of star performers.
On Saturday night, BBC2 broadcast the concert again.
Dear @BBC
To whoever decided to broadcast seven hours of a concert from 1985.
Thank you from me and a few million viewers.
#LiveAid40 #liveaidat40 #liveaid#queen #eltonjohn #bobgeldof #DavidBowie pic.twitter.com/BvUPXTMYNQ
— Karl Cunliffe (@KDCunliffe) July 12, 2025
While the argument about which act was the best would no doubt rage on for longer than the concert, it’s widely acknowledged that Queen have to be in with a shout.
Today in 1985, it felt like the entire world stopped for Live Aid. And with dozens of music legends filling the bill in both the U.S. and U.K., Freddie fucking Mercury went out there and stole the show.
— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) July 13, 2025
Rael Braverman, husband of Suella and a fierce supporter of Reform UK, seemed to agree – but his take on one iconic image of the much-missed Freddie Mercury was a bit barbed.
There were a couple of issues with his comment, and the internet stepped in to put him under pressure.
1.
the stage he's standing on https://t.co/qfROIuKe2s pic.twitter.com/WYHTUJgAP6
— austerity is theft (@wideofthepost) July 13, 2025
2.
truly disgusted to hear about the BBC’s broadcast last night where they gave a headline spot to a band fronted by a gay migrant in order to raise money for children in Ethiopia- a country with a 35% Islamic population
the agenda is front and centre
WHAT ABOUT OUR KIDS KEIR https://t.co/HpDnaLaqEt pic.twitter.com/bNfXGMTCvC
— D (@figuremonkey) July 13, 2025
3.
The very non political Live Aid and the very un-woke Freddie Mercury.
Those were the days https://t.co/SddfJFFD78
— Enda Higgins (@endahiggins88) July 13, 2025
4.
Wait till you find out what Live Aid was all about. pic.twitter.com/r99Ari3t4f
— Jason Reid (@JasonReidUK) July 13, 2025
5.
Latest entry in "Right Wing People Don't Understand Art"
Why did Live Aid exist Rael? https://t.co/fct6vIIs2F
— Coleman The Wizard ♂️ (@DanielMColeman) July 13, 2025
6.
Freddie Mercury, who famously had nothing to do with the LGBTQ movement at Live Aid, a concert that famously didn't have an explicit political cause. https://t.co/NYL6WVS9k0
— Gryffix (@Gryffix) July 13, 2025
7.
https://t.co/1QOYQ9LfNJ pic.twitter.com/OYRfm174Fc
— dave (@rawergevad) July 13, 2025
8.
This is the reason I can’t fully quit Twitter. People pay good money so that more people can see posts like this https://t.co/bDGU6EJD93
— David M Barnett: probably on BlueSky (@davidmbarnett) July 13, 2025
9.
Live Aid: famously free of a message. https://t.co/MmoogDVPz3
— John Brewin (@JohnBrewin_) July 13, 2025
10.
Freddie’s entire existence was political. https://t.co/vDWMBxV2p1
— FLIP ️️⚧️ (@fliponline) July 13, 2025
11.
I don’t believe for a second that these people actually think Freddie Mercury at LiveAid is the image of a socially and politically neutral artist.
They get off on insisting deceased marginalized folks would support their own oppression since they’re not here to say otherwise. pic.twitter.com/THDsoB79Cn
— Allison Floyd (@AllisonRFloyd) July 14, 2025
12.
There's stupid & then there's Braverman stupid. https://t.co/ViXcMZKcPf
— Haggis_UK (@Haggis_UK) July 13, 2025
13.
WOW!
You’ve entirely missed the point of Live Aid.
What, specifically, do you think the point was? And … do you know who Bob Geldof is?
Para three on Wiki mentions Thatcher. This is para two. Read a book sometimes. pic.twitter.com/9yIutqIky7
— Don McGowan (@donmcgowan) July 13, 2025
14.
A gay migrant headlining an event to raise money to help children in a country with a 35% Islamic popultaion in the year when UK unemployment reached a record peak.
Imagine the Reform lot if that happened today.
— Colin the Dachshund (@DachshundColin) July 13, 2025
15.
During both, There were short speeches, there were messages and banners, there were flags.
The “Feeding the world” slogan would be enough to make ❄️ Conservative America make it political and call the event socialist & a handout. they would have an aneurysm these days over it. pic.twitter.com/gm26jAXM9s— NOël (@ArtbyZepeda) July 13, 2025
To recap – with sarcasm …
oh yeah, the famously nonpolitical live aid event with zero lectures https://t.co/9vNmL8j7FY pic.twitter.com/nYVDUpTSzP
— amanda (@hrhmercury) July 13, 2025
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