Question marks remain as the charity fights for survival

Oxfam could be facing a funding crisis after it revealed 7,000 people cancelled regular donations following sex abuse allegations.

Chief executive Mark Goldring, grilled by MPs in the commons, said donors had reacted to the allegations by cancelling regular payments.

That comes on top of the charity saying it won’t bid for government cash until it gets its affairs in order.

The Oxfam boss and two other senior Oxfam executives were questioned by politicians about the sexual misconduct of the charity's workers in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010.

They told how the charity is trying to fend off a huge income hit as it tries to survive the crisis.

MPs also heard 26 claims of sexual misconduct were made since the scandal broke.

Goldring publicly apologised for the actions of charity staff who sexually exploited female victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

And he also apologised for his own comments which appeared to play down the seriousness of the scandal, when he told a newspaper that the charity was being attacked as if it had “murdered babies in their cots.”

Asked how many more revelations had come to his notice since newspaper reports of the Haiti scandal emerged earlier this month, Goldring said: “Across Oxfam Great Britain we have had about 26 stories, reports come to us which were either new reports come out as a result of the stories, or earlier stories where people said, ‘I didn’t necessarily report this at the time.’”

Goldring, who joined the charity as chief executive in 2013, said he was "deeply sorry" for the comments that he had made while "under stress."

Caroline Thomson, chairwoman of Oxfam’s trustees, said: “On behalf of the council of Oxfam, we are ashamed of what happened in Haiti.

“We don’t think it was well handled and our task now is to make sure we report always with transparency and accountability.

“My task is to make sure we never again can be at risk of being perceived to have put reputation over accountability.”