THE storm of criticism engulfing Oxfam is ‘out of proportion to the level of culpability’, one of the charity’s leading figures has said.

Mark Goldring, the chief executive of Oxfam GB, claimed critics were ‘gunning’ for his organisation and suggested no-one had ‘murdered babies in their cots’.

His intervention, in a Guardian interview, followed a statement issued by his senior colleague hours earlier – which described allegations of sexual exploitation as a ‘stain’ on the charity’s reputation.

Executive director Winnie Byanyima apologised for the crisis which has seen Oxfam accused of covering-up claims that staff used prostitutes while delivering aid to disaster-stricken Haiti in 2011.

She said: “What happened in Haiti and afterwards is a stain on Oxfam that will shame us for years, and rightly so. In my language: ‘Okuruga ahamutima gwangye, mutusaasire’ - it means ‘from the bottom of my heart I am asking for forgiveness’.”

Mr Goldring also criticised Oxford councillor Helen Evans, the charity’s former head of safeguarding, who said recently she had urged senior staff to act on the allegations.

He said her criticism was ‘unbalanced’.

Ms Evans tweeted this statement of her position during the week: