Attitude magazine owner tells David Lammy to 'go f*** himself' over Stacey Dooley 'white saviour' row

Darren Styles claims to have raised more than £350,000 for Africa-based charity

The owner of the UK’s biggest gay magazine has waded into a row over race and aid work in Africa by telling a prominent MP to “go f*** yourself”.

Darren Styles attacked David Lammy after the latter accused broadcast journalist Stacey Dooley of encouraging a “white saviour” complex during a recent Comic Relief trip to Uganda.

The Labour MP for Tottenham suggested certain aspects of such work ”perpetuate tired and unhelpful stereotypes”.

The Attitude magazine owner tweeted in response to Lammy’s remark: “As a white man who has raised more than £350k for an AIDS charity to spend in Africa you can go f*** yourself.

“I’ll spend my life and my time how I see fit, and do what good I can wherever I can based on need, rather than your poisonous view of my (or anyone’s) colour.”

“I’ve raised a ton of money to fight AIDS in Africa over years,” Styles tweeted in response to someone else who called Lammy’s original comments “unfair”.

Styles added, “I don’t see myself or anyone who has helped me as a saviour, let alone a white one. What a dreadful man, and what a horrible outlook on life. Sorry for him.”

In a subsequent tweet, Styles denounced the phrase “white saviour” as “polarising”, “deliberately inflammatory” and “downright dangerous”.

“I understand exactly what he means but his choice of language is poor and debasing,” he added.

Lammy’s original remark came in response to claims Dooley was being trolled on social media for posting images of herself with a black child during the Uganda trip.

One group, named No White Saviours, led the way in terms of criticism.

Speaking to The Independent, Styles described Lammy’s comments as “peculiar”, adding that he finds the the term “white saviour” very dangerous.

“It suggests there’s a racial power game at play,” he explained.

“When you see a phrase like that, it carries such weight and has damaging implications.

“It makes me angry. To suggest the people who go to Africa and that [those involved in] Comic Relief are ‘white saviours’ is madness.

“I think the reaction to the term, when used in relation to the charity, demonstrates that it’s offensive to a broader range of people than just someone who is white.”

Dooley, who won Strictly Come Dancing last year, responded to the MP’s comments, tweeting: ”David, is the issue with me being white? (Genuine question)... because if that’s the case, you could always go over there and try raise awareness?”

He responded by clarifying that his comments were not personal, writing: “My problem with British celebrities being flown out by Comic Relief to make these films is that it sends a distorted image of Africa which perpetuates an old idea from the colonial era.”

Comic Relief has since published a response to the controversies surrounding Dooley’s work, which was for its annual Red Nose Day fundraiser.

“We are really grateful that Stacey Dooley, an award-winning and internationally acclaimed documentary maker, agreed to go to Uganda to discover more about the projects thee British people have generously funded and make no apologies for this.”

The statement goes on to explain that the charity has asked Lammy if he would like to work together “and he has not responded”. It added that the offer still stands.

Lammy has denied these claims.”It’s simply not true to say I did not respond: we had two meetings in my office,” he tweeted. “I had hoped – and still hope – your coverage would improve but Stacey’s post was more of the same tried tropes. As I told you before, I’m not prepared to become part of a PR exercise.”

In a subsequent tweet, he added that his role as a politician is to “raise the issue”, writing: “The people of Africa do not need a British politician to make a film. I want African people to speak for themselves, not UK celebs acting as tour guides.”

The Independent has contacted David Lammy for comment.