21 October 2005
Thousands expected as Methodists join mass lobby of Parliament ahead of world trade talks
MAKE POVERTY HISTORY and Trade Justice Movement campaigners will
be staging a mass lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 2 November
2005.
Thousands of people are expected to come to London to lobby their
MPs as part of the MAKE POVERTY HISTORY campaign. Many Methodists
have been involved in the trade justice campaign since its
beginning and attended the campaign's first mass lobby in 2002.
This lobby was the largest of its kind and was a turning point in
gaining political and media attention. This year's lobby will build
on the impact of previous mass demonstrations, including the
225,000-strong G8 rally in Edinburgh in July, and will be calling
for trade justice, not free trade.
President of Conference, Revd Tom Stuckey, who was at the Edinburgh
rally and will be attending the mass lobby, said: 'Thousands of
people marched in Edinburgh to demand trade justice, debt
cancellation and more and better aid. There is now a common
understanding that we can all play a part in ending poverty, by
pressing our leaders to change harmful policies. The commitments on
aid and debt made at the G8 summit will achieve little, unless
there is also major movement on trade policy. This lobby provides
an opportunity to step up our campaigning and to get more people
involved.'
Kirsty Smith, director of the Methodist Relief and Development Fund
said: 'The timing of this lobby is crucial, as the World Trade
Organisation (WTO) meets just six weeks later. Pressure is
increasing on the UK Government to take a lead at the WTO meeting
in rewriting world trade rules to benefit poor countries and the
environment. Our government needs to stop pushing poor countries to
open their economies through the WTO and European Union policies
and to respect poor countries' right to choose their own trade
policies. We cannot make poverty history unless this happens and I
hope that many MRDF supporters will join the mass lobby on 2
November, even if they have never lobbied their MP before.'
A move towards trade justice would make a real difference for those
living in countries like Mali, one of the poorest nations in the
world. A third of the population is dependent on cotton production,
including cotton farmer Sedou Sangare. The world price of cotton
has more than halved in the last 10 years, suppressed by government
subsidies handed out to cotton farmers in rich countries. West
African countries produce cotton very efficiently, at only a third
of the cost of growing it in the USA, yet American cotton is so
highly subsidised that it can be exported at below cost price,
undercutting poor African, Brazilian and Indian farmers. This year,
Sedou is struggling to make enough from cotton to feed his family:
'The problem is that cotton could [only] reach 210 francs per kg
last year. This year I owe 35,000 francs for fertiliser and
pesticides and the price of cotton is fixed at 160 francs per kg.
If the price of fertiliser goes up, we will certainly be working at
a loss.'
The UK lobby will follow Prime Minister's Question Time and takes
place alongside lobbies being held across Europe and around the
world. Westminster Central Hall will be hosting an ecumenical
service at 4.30pm on the day of the lobby.
Half a million people in the UK have already cast a vote for Trade
Justice in a special ballot, calling on the Government to support
fairer trade rules, including many who have done so through the
Methodist Recorder.
Campaigners should register at www.tjm.org.uk to receive more
information and to contact their MPs in advance of the lobby.
Fliers, posters and action packs are also available from MRDF, 25
Marylebone Road, London NW1 5JR or by calling 020 7467 5132.