01 November 2005

MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY have announced that tomorrow’s mass lobby of parliament will be the largest lobby of MPs this year - on any issue.  Thousands of campaigners from all over the country are coming to London to lobby hundreds of MPs, calling for trade justice not free trade.

The aim of the lobby, which takes place at 12.00pm on Wednesday 2 November, is to increase pressure on the UK Government as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial approaches.

Campaigners are demanding that the UK Government and its partners in the European Union (EU) stop forcing free trade on poor countries by pushing them to open their economies through world trade talks. They are also calling on the UK and EU to respect the right of poor countries to decide on the trade policies that will help end poverty and protect their environment. This means allowing the freedom to choose the best policies for poor people in services such as water, health and education and policies that will protect vulnerable farm sectors and promote national industries.
 
The UK Government’s 2005 election manifesto included an important new policy, which states that poor countries should not be forced to open their markets.  Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Alan Johnson has recently assured that this policy is his priority for the WTO.  Campaigners welcome the new ‘no forced liberalisation’ policy but are urging for evidence of it in practice.

Glen Tarman of the Trade Justice Movement, a core network within MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY, said: "The UK and the EU will remain obstacles to trade justice unless they make urgent changes to their position on non-agricultural goods and services and the aggressive stance of our trading bloc in WTO negotiations.  Campaigners are coming to London to meet their MPs face to face in the biggest lobby of 2005.  If we are to make poverty history through trade justice, the Government must respond and act now to stop free trade being pushed on any poor country."

This lobby is part of an unparalleled mobilisation of hundreds of millions of ordinary people around the world who are demanding Tony Blair and other world leaders make radical changes to the way world trade is currently managed so it benefits poor people and the environment and not just the rich and powerful.

The call of campaigners at the London lobby will be echoed by civil society across Europe as national governments are lobbied for trade justice including a European wide lobby in Brussels on 21 November.   This mobilisation is timed to put pressure on Trade Ministers from the 25 EU nations meeting for the last time to finalise the EU’s negotiating position for the crucial trade talks at the WTO in Hong Kong December.

Despite unprecedented public pressure around the G8, world leaders failed to deliver the urgent action required for a just world trade system. Campaigners, however, remain determined to push for change. Over 600,000 people in the UK have already added their support to the Vote for Trade Justice, a special ballot calling on the Government to urgently deliver a just trade deal for the world’s poor.

The mass lobby is supported by The Co-operative Bank as part of its ongoing commitment to the campaign for trade justice.