Posted on 24-6-2002
Trade
Tariff Temperature Up
From oneworld.net
Temperatures soared into the seventies (apparently that's hot
... for UK
andyway - Ed.) as more than 12,000 people from the Fair Isles
to Cornwall
joined in a huge Mexican wave of noise in a giant queue that
snaked past
the Houses of Parliament and over Lambeth Bridge almost as far
as the
London Eye. It took six minutes and 37 seconds for the wave
to pass from
one end of the queue to then other. More than 300 MPs were lobbied
-
including Iain Duncan Smith and Peter Mandelson. Soaking up
the sunshine
and joining in the carnival atmosphere, many MPs were ferried
to meet their
waiting constituents in rickshaws.
Endorsed by celebrities ranging from the Body Shop founder Anita
Roddick to
Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, the biggest ever mass lobby of
Parliament -
which included campaigners from 50 charities from Oxfam to Friends
of the
Earth - sent a clear message that British voters want the rules
on
international trade rewritten to favour the world's poor. "It's
desperately
important that our MPs take note and put pressure on the European
Union.
Unless we can change the EU policy on trade, we won't make any
progress. We
want the rules changed. It's been a brilliant day. There was
a wonderful
spirit and it was beautifully organised. "The aim of the day
was to
demonstrate to government and opinion leaders that there is
a massive
interest at grass roots and local level in securing justice
in trade for
the poor of our world," said CAFOD Director Julian Filochowski.
"And to
show there are thousands and thousands of people demonstrating
peacefully
and clamouring that trade rules must be rewritten for the sake
of the
hungry and excluded. "MPs are astonished at the colossal mail
bags they
have received so far and that coach parties have come from every
corner of
Britain," he said. "They have responded with two debates, two
early day
motions and a sense of excitement that a difficult and complex
issue has
achieved this level of popular interest and committed action
from ordinary
constituents. "This is the authentic successor to Jubilee 2000,"
he said.
"People do not suffer from compassion fatigue. People have not
become tired
of debt campaigning and aid campaigning. They will continue
to work for a
better world and to give Tony Blair and Gordon Brown a people's
mandate to
demand change in the EU, at the G8 and at the UN."
CAFOD campaigners, dressed in colourful costumes and carried
banners to
represent their constituencies, took part in a giant Mexican
wave at 3.30pm
to add their voice to the call for trade justice. "I'm here
today just to
be present and to give witness to our MPs that we are very serious,
particularly on the issue of trade," said Vince Donlan, 62,
a retired civil
servant from Sheffield. "I'm interested in justice issues and
I think it's
gone very well," said Christopher Greeno, 22, a youth worker
from
Hertfordshire. "There's a real mixture of young and old. Anything
that's
shaken up MPs is a good thing."
At 5.30pm, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor celebrated Mass at
Westminster
Cathedral packed with sunburned CAFOD campaigners. "This was
lobbying with
a purpose: for trade justice in our world today," said Cardinal
Murphy-O'Connor. "More and more, the Catholic community should
take part in
working for justice in our world. Our prayers, our commitment,
our work
through this kind of justice is crucial to fulfilling the Lord's
purpose."
CAFOD's partner Sergio Cobo from Mexico was impressed by the
size and the
good nature of the lobby. "People in Mexico are given strength
and hope and
courage by your solidarity," he said. "The unfair international
trade
system contributes to the fact that 800 million people go hungry
today. At
least 24,000 people die of hunger every day. This is a scandal
that can no
longer be allowed to continue."
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