01 November 2005

The charity ActionAid will tomorrow (Wednesday, 2 November) help lead the largest mass lobby of parliament this year when thousands of campaigners urge MPs to press Tony Blair over trade plans which threaten to throw millions more people into poverty in the developing world.

Campaigners will lobby 500 MPs to ensure Mr Blair uses Britain's current presidency of the G8 and the European Union to change rich nations' proposals which would force developing countries to open their markets to unfair foreign competition.

As ActionAid campaigners and supporters queue to lobby MPs, the charity's giant inflatable super villain, Corporate Muscle, will join them to call for trade rules which benefit poor people rather than multinational corporations.

The lobby, from 12 noon GMT, will come in the run-up to vital talks at next month's World Trade Organisation ministerial conference in Hong Kong.

ActionAid is a key member of the Trade Justice Movement, a coalition of more than 70 British organisations, including trade unions and campaign, student and environmental groups, which has organised the event.

The TJM is one of the key networks within Make Poverty History, the alliance of over 530 UK organisations, also behind the lobby.

ActionAid has spokespeople available for interview today and tomorrow. Ruchi Tripathi, head of its food rights team, will feature among speakers in a Trade Justice Movement/Make Poverty History media briefing at 11.30 am GMT tomorrow in committee room 20 at the House of Commons.

Ms Tripathi says: "Fair trade rules could lift millions of people out of poverty. But the latest EU proposals would increase the numbers of the world's poor. We urge MPs to press Tony Blair to use his influence to stop a development disaster taking place at the WTO meeting in December."