Maxine Peake hits back at 'hypocrisy' accusations over NHS advert

Silk star reveals she donated her fee to charity

Maxine Peake has hit back over claims of hypocrisy after it emerged she had been paid to voice an NHS recruitment advert.

The Silk star was accused star of taking public money despite being an outspoken critic of the level of funding for the health service in a Mail on Sunday article in which Conservative MP, Simon Hart said she was “hypocritical” to attack the government over spending cuts “and then take taxpayers’ money to voice over an advertisement for more nurses”.

He said: “I'd have more respect for Maxine if she had forgone the fee and left it with the health service to recruit another nurse.”

However, Peake revealed she had donated her fee to The Salford Foundation Trust, a charity that supports the vocational, personal, social and academic development of young people and adults in Salford and other boroughs of Greater Manchester

Even if she had returned the fee, she said it would have gone back to the advertising agency hired to produce the commercial.

"I was not employed by the NHS, but by an advertising agency who hold a pre-agreed budget of the whole of the campaign," she wrote on Twitter. "If I had refused the fee, the money wouldn't have been returned to the NHS, but to the commercial agency."

The advert to which she lent her voice was launched last month to highlight the work and dedication shown by staff in the NHS.

Last year, the 44-year-old starred in a Labour Party broadcast in which she accused the government of putting the NHS and social care in a “state of emergency”.

An NHS England spokesman said: "We Are The NHS is a major multimillion pound campaign to encourage potential recruits to consider a career in the NHS and help fill the 100,000 vacancies that exist in the service.

“Maxine offered her support at a significantly reduced rate to that which would normally apply.”

A spokesperson for Peake said: "Maxine has participated in a number of charity voice overs over the last few years including MacMillan Nurses, the NSPCC and Cancer Research, which have either paid a nominal fee or in some cases no fee at all.

"The fees she has received for any organisations within the charity or public sector have been much lower than market rate."