Moral Maze

Can we separate pop from politics?

Ed Sheeran says he tries to keep politics off the stage. But politics gate-crashed his stadium tour anyway -- when the American rapper Macklemore was removed as a support act for delivering a pro-Palestinian speech. Now Sir Bob Geldof, the man behind Live Aid, says Ed Sheeran's preferred silence isn't political. Fame, he says, is a currency, and artists get to choose how to spend it Is he right? Can any artist, whether a musician, a writer, or a painter, stay out of politics? Or is silence itself a kind of political statement too? This week’s Moral Maze: Can we separate pop from politics? Presenter: William Crawley Panel: Andrew Copson, Ash Sarkar, Ella Whelan, Giles Fraser Witnesses: Tom Phelan, Daniel Rachel, Angela McRobbie, Nick Asbury Producer: Catherine Murray Editor: Chloe Walker