morrissey rescues anti-racism festival

from guardian: Most of us end disputes through the power of rhetoric. We make eloquent, compelling arguments, apologise for misunderstandings, and express our heartfelt opinions. However Morrissey takes a different tack. He donates loads of money.

Yesterday's Love Music Hate Racism carnival at Victoria Park, London, was by all accounts a success. Hard-Fi and the Good, the Bad & the Queen played, spirits were high, music was loved and racism was hated. But the event would not have been able to happen at all were it not for a bail-out from Moz and his friends, it emerged this weekend.

Morrissey donated a reported £28,000 and persuaded his management, booking agency and promoters to chip in another £45,000 after one of the festival's major sponsors pulled out. Event organisers Martin Smith and Lee Billingham said they were "extremely grateful" for Morrissey's "generous financial contribution".

The donation comes several months after Morrissey's much-publicised kerfuffle with the NME (and a planned Love Music Hate Racism campaign), when he made some rather dubious comments about UK immigration. In an interview with Tim Jonze, Morrissey stated that "the gates of England are flooded. The country's been thrown away". He later insisted that he had been misinterpreted, hates racists, and may be pursuing the NME with legal action.

Now he's put his money where his mouth is. "This is a historic event, spreading an important, anti-racist, message so it must be allowed to go ahead," he told journalists. "This is something I am committed to and we appreciate everyone coming together so quickly to make it happen."