The Justice Collective - featuring stars like Robbie Williams, Shane MacGowan and Paul McCartney – are amongst the favourites to get to number one in the UK this Christmas. Over the last few years. the Christmas Number One has been a little unpredictable, what with a recent campaign to get Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing In the Name Of’ to number one thus preventing the usual X Factor winner Number One for the years that had preceded it.

Everyone loves to support a good cause at Christmas and the Justice Collective’s cover of The Hollies’ ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother’ will raise money for to help the families of those killed in the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, with their legal fees. The single was launched at Liverpool’s HMV store, by the former footballer Kenny Dalglish and the comedian John Bishop. According to the Halifax Courier, the Justice Collective currently have best odds of 2/7 to get a Christmas number one, whereas James Arthur – this year’s X Factor winner – has odds of 5/1 in second place. Gareth Malone's Military Wives’ Choir are in third place at 20/1, which would make it their second Christmas number one in a row if they manage to land the top spot.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, there has been a call from the stars of the Justice Collective, as well as Kenny Dalglish, John Bishop and Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. “I wrote to the Chancellor George Osborne before X Factor and we haven't yet had a formal response from him. We tried to get hold of the Treasury yesterday and we are still hopeful that he will waive the VAT on our single. It's the right thing for the Government to do,” said the MP.