THERE WAS A telling moment on one of the 24-hour news television channels when, beneath footage of the unfolding tragedy of September 11, some bright spark in the studio elected to flash up the headline “Madonna urges restraint”. As if anyone could have cared less at that moment what a pop star thought about the situation, let alone that her comments should seriously be taken into account in weighing up what the American Government’s immediate response to the event ought to be.

I was reminded of this by George Michael’s announcement this week that he is “opposed” to the efforts of a group of today’s young pop stars — led by the boyband, Blue — to mount a re-run of the Band Aid charity record as a means of opposing the impending war in Iraq.

“I’m begging, I’m hoping that there will not be a Band Aid 2,” Michael said. “Because the reality is that very few people in the industry now that you’re hearing on the radio make their money from their own hearts and minds.”

As it turns out, Michael’s complaint is just another variant on the timeless theme of the older generation not trusting the younger generation to be able to think or act for itself. So while it is fine for Michael to rush into song (and video) as a cheerleader for the anti-Bush/Blair brigade — as he did with his lamentable Shoot the Dog single of last year — it’s not OK for these kids to follow suit, because they don’t know what they’re talking about.

But he’s half-right, at least, which for Michael is a better result than normal. One reason why any attempt to parlay a charity record opposing the war into a Band Aid 2 is doomed to failure is that the pop world has changed beyond recognition since Bob Geldof marshalled the biggest stars of the day to the cause of alleviating starvation in Ethiopia.

While Band Aid (and the subsequent Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia) was a spontaneous and original gesture, there have been so many dubious galas, meaningless all-star jamborees and flop charity records since then that the idea has become terminally debased.

While opposition to the famine in Ethiopia was a strictly humanitarian issue, opposition to a potential war in Iraq is a political one. Getting people to dig into their pockets to help starving children is one thing but, whatever they say, neither the big stars nor the general public will be so willing to swell the coffers of CND or wherever else the money raised from sales of a putative Band Aid 2 is bound.

Opposition to the war may be a cause that is sweeping the imagination of the country — for now — but there is likely to be a good deal of cynicism about a gang of publicity-hungry pop stars, at a loose end after the excitement of the Brits and the Grammys, suddenly hitching their wagons to it.

While Damon Albarn of Blur (new album out in April) has waged an indefatigable campaign against the prospect of war through the pages of the NME, it is noticeable that most of the original sponsors of Live Aid are keeping pretty quiet. Bono has maintained an uncharacteristically low profile in recent weeks, and insofar as he has said anything about the subject, Geldof seems to have been tacitly supporting Tony Blair’s position.

Perhaps Madonna’s message is finally getting through after all, if not in quite the way she intended.