British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg gave his permission yesterday for a parody remix of a public apology that he had made over university fees to go on sale on iTunes, with its proceeds going to charity.
The autotuned remix of the deputy prime minister's video apology, created by satirical website The Poke, became a social media hit yesterday morning, trending on Twitter at one point.
The Poke said it wanted to release the remix as a charity single and Clegg responded: "Permission granted, but all proceeds to SheffChildrens please," referring to the Sheffield Children's Hospital in north England.
Clegg had made the rare public apology for breaking the Liberal Democrat party's promise to block increases in university fees on Wednesday as he sought to claw back dwindling support ahead of the party conference starting this weekend.
In the video, Clegg said the party was sorry it had not stuck to its pledge to oppose the tuition fees rise - a key plank of its pre-election manifesto.
"We made a promise before the election that we would vote against any rise in fees under any circumstances," he said in the short video clip produced at his London home.