No wonder pop stars and others feel uneasy about the project. However well-intentioned, it now does more harm than good

Hey y’all: listen up to the chartbusting, pop-pickin’, time-addled DJ: “Yes indeed, Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas is back with a bang, a twist and a mix! This time our ultimate white saviour anthem is ready for for a generation weaned on AI remixes: a menage a trois of the original 1984 version mixed in with the 2004 and 2014 versions. Britain is about to feel good and “Africa” is finally about to get fed! WICK-ED! Joining us to discuss this is my mate, a fountain of all that is good in the world, the great Sir Bob Geldof …”

We don’t know exactly what the forthcoming, 40th-anniversary version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?, featuring a mashup of previous versions into a new “ultimate mix”, will sound like. But I do fear the worst.

Nels Abbey is an author, broadcaster and the founder of Uppity: the Intellectual Playground