On Friday, the Conservative party scuppered a bill by Labour MPs on Debt Relief.
The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill was being taken through its report and third reading stages today by Sally Keeble MP after the bill’s promoter Andrew Gwynne, became ill. A cross party consensus had been agreed at committee stage of the bill with the acceptance of a sunset clause that put a time limit on the bill. A last minute objection from Phillip Davies, MP for Shipley, was withdrawn, so the bill should have completed its passage through the Commons today. Baroness Quin had agreed to take it through the House of Lords.
The bill, which stopped secretive off-shore investment funds from profiteering out of third world debt, was the result of years of international campaigning on the subject. It protected heavily indebted poor countries which benefit from UK taxpayers support - effectively stopping tax payers money being siphoned off by the so-called “vulture” funds.
The three Tory MPs - two of them Tory front benchers – sat with bowed heads in the Commons Chamber and refused to admit which of them had objected to the private members bill. Their move effectively brought an end to the bill. Sally Keeble called their actions “abject cowardice.” We think that’s a fairly measured way to describe their actions.
Here is a statement from Sally Keeble we’d like to publish:
“This action today gives the lie to the Tories’ pretence of supporting international development. This bill was a small, but significant step in helping the most impoverished countries deal with their debts. It also protected British taxpayers’ money.
The Tories obviously think that developing countries are good enough to use as tax havens from which to get funding. But they are not prepared to protect the poorest developing countries from the most blatant profiteering.
The Tory front bench - the Tory Leader and the Shadow International Development - must own up if it was one of their team was responsible for scuppering this bill. Was it their deputy chief whip Andrew Robotham MP, the whip Simon Burns MP, or the chair of the bill committee, Christopher Chope? They are abject cowards who sat and hung their heads as one of them objected to a measure to help combat world poverty.
The Tories have given a green light to the vulture funds that make profits out of the debts of the poorest people on the world.”
The Trade Union Congress marked the 100th International Women’s Day with a celebration of women through music, poetry, comedy and speech.
Speakers included Frances O’Grady, Maria Eagle, Bonnie Greer and Hariyatu Bangura, an inspirational women’s leader for the Western Region of Sierra Leone Teacher’s Union.
The evening jumped between hip hop, soul, poetry, an ironing board keyboard and the charming comedy of Josie Long in a surprisingly fluid manner. Despite being a celebration it was clear the day was not simply about celebrating women’s progress but also a day to look at what still needs to be achieved in both the developed and developing world.
There seems to be a general consensus in the media and popular opinion that equality now exists and that the women’s movement is a thing of the past. Events like International Women’s Day draw attention to the fact that not only do women still have far to go but that even these basic rights many women take for granted do not extend to many parts of the world.
It is not a coincidence that one in three women across the world will be raped, sexually abused or suffer domestic violence in their lifetime nor is it a coincidence that there is still a 16% gender pay gap. Gender equality leaves much to be desired and whilst I was personally inspired and encouraged by the event at the TUC I was glad there was a serious tone to the evening and a sense that this was a movement that was only just getting going.
by Lucy Inmonger, LCID
Huge advancements have been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS since the 80s, but the fight is getting harder and numbers of people contracting HIV are growing. This International Women’s Day, it is worth pausing to contemplate the disproportionately devastating toll that this infection takes on women in the developing world.
We have all heard harrowing tales of infection being passed through rape in armed conflict, or from promiscuous partners in relationships that still value wives as personal chattels. These stories effect us deeply, but the effects on women in the developing world are often beyond our comprehension. HIV/AIDS does not just affect the person it infects: it cuts down people in their prime, it kills breadwinners and it makes full-time carers out of those who could otherwise work to earn money for food, clothing and schooling. In many cases, it can be a death sentence for a whole family. Children are orphaned and developing countries stagnate whilst their workforce dies.
Speaking for the Chief Executive of the National AIDS Trust, Deborah Jack said:
“Women are disproportionately affected by HIV globally, yet they still do not have a widely accepted prevention method they can initiate and control. Whilst existing prevention strategies are essential, new tools such as microbicides or a vaccine, could offer women a powerful new way to protect themselves against HIV.”
That is why this Government, through DfID has committed itself to fighting the tide of HIV/AIDS. As one of the first Governments to fund research into microbicides and antiretroviral therapies, the UK’s track record is strong. Going forward, the Global AIDS Strategy commits the Government to a 50% increase in funding of vaccines and microbicides during the 2008-2013 period.
There is no question about continued support for the fight against HIV/AIDS by a Labour Government. More funding for prevention, more funding for microbicides and vaccines, ensuring treatment: these commitments are solid.
It is all too easy to focus on the medical effects of HIV/AIDS. Although these are devastating to individuals, the social effects on families, communities, even whole nations are greater still and especially hard on women.
By Tim Nicholls
LCID Election Events
With the election just around the corner, LCID is putting on a number of events to help support Labour MPs. We’ll be supporting MPs who have done a lot on development, as well as MPs in seats where development may be an important electoral issue.
Please put the following dates in your diary.
.
Phone canvassing, on Thursdays
Dates:
- 18th March
- 1st April
- 8th April
- 15th April
The venue is likely to be Labour Party HQ in Westminster. We will provide details of who to use the Virtual Phonebank for anyone outside of London!
.
Action days
More details to follow, but please put these dates in your diary!
- Saturday 20th March – East London
- Saturday 10th April – Worcester (possibly)
- Sunday 25th April – International Development Day (activity TBC)
Labour has shown real leadership on international development over the last 13 years – we cannot let the Tories put that at risk, so please do help how you can.
We will be setting up Facebook events shortly with more details. If you’ve never been canvassing before don’t worry, it’s actually really rewarding to engage with people on the doorstep and address their issues, and we’ll be on hand to help answer any questions you might have. You can also email Nick with any questions at nick@lcid.org.uk.
Thanks very much!
The LCID Team.
Monday sees the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day.
To celebrate this, Sarah Brown’s White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood are encouraging people around the world to wear white and hold a dinner party in March for the 100th year of International Women’s Day on the 8th. Please get together with your friends, have some fun and join this global celebration of women and newborns saved and also to remember those lost.
“Together women around the world can really show governments and national leaders that we won’t be ignored and that all women in every country deserve access to basic healthcare. We can save so many lives by refusing to be ignored. Please Play Your Part to prevent the needless deaths of women and newborns in childbirth.”
- Naomi Campbell, White Ribbon Alliance Global Ambassador
WRA Members in over 140 countries will be holding marches, dinners and events in celebration of International Woman’s Day.
To find out more information and put on a dinner party yourself, please go to whiteribbonalliance.org
The Prime Minister and Sarah Brown welcomed President Zuma and his wife to Number 10. During the visit they met representatives from the charity 1Goal – education for all – including Steven Gerrard and South African Football Captain Aaron Mokoena.
It was announed at the meeting that South Africa will host a global summit on education during the World Cup this summer.
Join 1Goal here.
Labour Campaign for International Development has now formally submitted its policy paper to Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and coordinator of the Labour’s forthcoming General Election Manifesto.
While noting the progress made by successive Labour Governments, we call for Labour to meet and exceed its commitments to the world’s poor, noting that a global downturn is exactly when Labour’s values are needed most.
In addition to meeting existing aid commitments, we strongly call for Labour to commit to introducing a Financial Transaction Tax – the Robin Hood Tax – to fund development and climate change adaptation, as well as invest in public services in the UK.
And we want Labour to ensure that the interests of the world’s poor are central across Government policy, whether in trade, energy, security or global governance. The responsibility to fight poverty should not land solely at DfID’s door.
Below is an article from LCID member Steve Cockburn on Progress Online – see original post
As a petition is handed to the speaker of the Ugandan parliament today against an anti-gay bill what else can Britain do to stand up for LGBT rights across the globe?
Eight years ago I fell in love with a country that now threatens to imprison and even execute those that fall in love with another person.
In 2002 Uganda, a country emerging from a horrendous past, felt hopeful. It was the first African country to have slashed its HIV rate – an apparently invincible disease made beatable by good policy, social mobilisation and political will.
And since then, despite some serious political hiccups and an ongoing civil conflict, it has posted economic growth averaging seven per cent a year and made the eradication of extreme poverty look eminently doable.
Which makes the current battle over a proposed private member’s bill to imprison and even execute homosexuals all the more challenging, albeit sadly not rare.
In the struggle for the human rights of LGBT communities, Uganda is just one episode in a bigger story where 86 countries still criminalise consensual sexual relations between those of the same sex. 86 countries who criminalise love. Eight who make it punishable by death.
Obviously, these abuses matter first of all for the safety and dignity of those persecuted. The Gay Rights Uganda blog provides a distressing catalogue of offences, while a more personal blog by a gay Ugandan provides a more mundane, but just as powerful, human dimension.
But it matters for the broader cause of poverty reduction too. You won’t tackle an HIV epidemic by excluding the most vulnerable groups from accessing vital services. You won’t ensure good governance by failing to protect minorities from abuses of power. You won’t harness the potential of a population if you treat one tenth like they are sub-human.
But how do we go from moral outrage to effective action?
As individuals, we have options. We can stand alongside organisations in Uganda fighting for rights from within, where ultimately the long-term battle will be won. And we can support global campaigns, such as the petition launched by Avaaz, to shine a light on repression.
It can work. Already international pressure has led the bill to be reviewed, further pressure could have it shelved. Today, church leaders, human rights activists and HIV/AIDS service providers will present the Avaaz petition to key Ugandan legislators, signed by over 450,000 people across the world.
But relying on citizens’ campaigns alone won’t always be enough. So what can a progressive government do to protect the rights of those beyond its jurisdiction?
Theoretically, we should have tools. We have diplomatic and trading relationships with every one of the 86 countries in question, and most of these receive aid from the British taxpayer. Uganda itself gets £70 million a year.
But using these tools effectively and legitimately is far from easy. Private and public criticism from officials, world leaders and human rights bodies is important, but may lack teeth. Isolating countries from groups like the Commonwealth risks equating the cause of human rights with the dynamics of colonialism.
Withholding aid is an obvious and powerful option, and one that Sweden says it will use. Yet the problems are obvious too – it would be Uganda’s poor, not those preaching hate, who would suffer most. Redirecting aid outside national budgets is a less dangerous option, but still developmentally regressive. Supporting civil society groups financially and politically is a must.
The dilemmas are real and the apparent limits to one’s power are frustrating, but such a realisation has to become a clarion call for new thinking. If we want Labour to get real about its ethical foreign policy, we have to get serious about devising the means to achieve it.
I’m not quite sure what those tools will be, but I can imagine few more worthwhile projects than thinking up innovative ways to open up a new global front in the battle for equalities, and carve out a more progressive role for Britain in the world. And in the meantime, we need to stand by our friends in Uganda, and in the other 85 countries where to love is neither a joy nor a right, but a crime.
Support the Avaaz petition
Learn more about the Labour Campaign for International Development
Read the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s ‘Programme for Promoting the Human Rights of LGBT People’
Steve Cockburn is an anti-poverty campaigner and member of the Labour Campaign for International Development.
Today is the first day of the Fairtrade Fortnight, which runs from 22 February to 7 March. Around the world, millions of lives have been touched, changed and improved by Fairtrade: providing decent earnings to producers in developing countries. This year, the theme of the Fairtrade Fortnight is “The Big Swap”. Think about the products you use, could you swap to a Fairtrade equivalent? The aim is to get 1,000,001 swaps by the end of the fortnight.
But what, exactly, has the Labour Government done for Fairtrade?
Since 1997, the Labour Government has supported Fairtrade with DfID funding and from this year, even during the recession, funding will be quadrupled to £12m over the period 2010-13 as part of a joint effort with donors and Fairtrade Labeling Organisations International. This will help bring 1 million more producers into the movement, which in turn means higher wages and better lives for 7 million people across the globe.
Additionally, through “Fairtrade Premiums”, twice as much money will be invested directly into local organisations. These can provide improved irrigation, or medical clinics, which will make a profound differnce the lives of people in developing countries.
The Fairtrade movement is vital because no country has managed to tackle poverty in the last 30 years without also increasing trade. Trade can be the great leveller of the world and help millions out of poverty, raise living standards and increase global prosperity: if it is done right. Fairtrade ensures that producers get the returns they deserve for their products. What we need is fairer, more equitable international trade rules. The Labour Government has been pushing for this for the last 13 years and is providing at least £1b every year for the next 3 years in aid for trade and growth, as well as seeking to enshrine a promise to provide 0.7% of national income in aid every year.
Labour believes in the values of the core of Fairtrade: that everyone across the globe should receive a fair price for their goods and a fair wage for their work. This belief in equity and fairness is shared by countless millions of people: over the last decade, every year we have doubled the amount of Fairtrade produce we buy. Already, 7.5 million people benefit from Fairtrade, which is crucial to development. With continued support from the public and the Labour Government, this can only increase.
Please visit the Fairtrade Fortnight website choose what you will swap for Fairtrade.
By Tim Nicholls
LCID and Co-operative Youth are teaming up and heading down to Brighton to help out. There will be doorknocking and delivering across both days of the weekend, so please come along for either day if you’re free!
10:30 am at Hill House, Walpole Road, BN2 0LS on both days.
Come along and help out the campaign to keep Brighton and Hove Labour!
We’ll be helping out Labour & Co-operative candidate Simon Burgess in Brighton Kemptown, and Labour candidate Nancy Platts in Brighton Pavillion.
Please email nick@lcid.org.uk if you are able to come on either day. For more information, check out the Facebook event page.
Five years ago, millions of us took part in the Make Poverty History Campaign. Everyone from rock stars, to church leaders, to members of the public mobilised to make 2005 a turning point in the fight against global poverty.
Despite the horror of the 7/7 attacks on London, the G8 was determined not to allow terrorists to derail the talks. And under Britain’s Presidency, the G8 agreed the most significant outcome in its history, hammering out a 50 billion dollar aid package, with 25 billion dollars for the world’s poorest countries in Africa and debt relief for those countries most in need.
Of course, we knew this would never be enough to Make Poverty History. But we also knew that if implemented, it could become a turning point, perhaps even a tipping point in the fight against poverty.
Five years on, the figures are in and the reckoning is due.
First, we should acknowledge how much has been achieved.
On debt relief the progress has been immense with 45 billion dollars delivered to the world’s poorest countries freeing up resources for health and education. In Burundi for example, the government was able to build 1,000 extra classrooms and provide free health services for every child under five.
And on Aid too, the G8 has delivered real improvements. According to the OECD – the custodians of the figures – 2010 will see the total amount of aid given to poor countries reach a new record, this at a period that has seen an unprecedented global financial crisis.
Indeed since 2005 total aid has grown by almost 28 billon dollar and that aid has had tangible benefits on the ground. More than four million people now receive treatment for HIV and AIDS – a tenfold increase over five years – and deaths among the under fives has fallen below ten million for the first time since records began. Through the UK led immunisation initiative, 500 million children will be vaccinated and 10 million lives will be saved by 2015. And the aid increases and debt cancellation have helped to get 47 million more children into school over the last ten years. This is impressive progress.
The UK has delivered on our own target too. In 2005 we promised we would spend 0.56% of our national income on aid; the OECD confirmed today that the UK will honour that promise.
There is no way that all of this would have happened without the Make Poverty History campaign and the landmark Gleneagles summit. Those involved should rightly feel proud of their contribution and the real changes this has made possible.
But let us be equally clear that the 50 billion dollar agreement made at Gleneagles has not been met.
Some of the shortfall is due to reduced growth during the global recession. But I do not believe there can be any excuse for denying money promised to the poorest people on our planet.
So where next? Do we accept that the international community cannot keep its promises and give up? Or do we seize the progress that has been made and push for more in the future? We act.
For this government there will be no giving up. 2010 is going to be a watershed year for the Millennium Development Goals and the UK is pushing hard for a Global Poverty summit in New York this year, to set out an action plan for the next five years to get us into a position to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. We will also work with the EU and the Canadian G8 Presidency to put in place a new system of accountability to make it much harder for countries to break their promises in the future. And we will work to find new innovative sources of sustainable finance for future development.
Internationally we will drive further progress on education, health and the economic growth that are essential for progress. We will support the efforts of President Zuma, FIFA and the 1Goal campaign to make the legacy of the first World Cup in Africa, education for every African child. We will support all countries trying to end the outrage of women and children dying because they can’t afford basic healthcare. And through the G20 we will make sure the poorest countries benefit from our efforts to boost global growth in the crisis.
In the UK too we will strengthen our own accountability. We have already kept our G8 promises but we will go further and enshrine our commitment in law.
We have sought all party agreement on this, but sadly the Conservatives say a law isn’t necessary and refuse to match our commitment to introduce a Bill on this issue. I ask them to reconsider their position today.
The world came together in 2005 to make poverty history. In 2010 I call on the international community and campaigners to reinvigorate this mission; to renew their commitment – not to turn away from it.
Sign up to the campaign to make 0.7% spending on aid UK law at Global Poverty Promise.com
First posted on Left Foot Forward.
In 2005, the 15 EU countries who are members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) committed to spend 0.51 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2010. Today, the OECD reported that Britain was among a number of countries to have met that commitment but centre-right governments across Europe are falling behind.
Other DAC countries made varying ODA commitments for 2010, and most, but not all, will fulfil them:
• The United States pledged to double its aid to sub-Saharan Africa between 2004 and 2010.
• Canada aimed to double its 2001 International Assistance Envelope level by 2010 in nominal terms.
• Australia aimed to reach $A4 billion.
• New Zealand plans to achieve an ODA level of $NZ 600 million by 2012-13.
The OECD projects that all four countries appear on track to meet these objectives. Meanwhile, Norway will maintain 1 per cent GNI spending, and Switzerland will likely reach 0.47 per cent of its GNI. The net result is that overseas aid will reach record levels in 2010, a 35 per cent increase since 2004. But despite this success there will be a significant shortfall as several major rich countries – including three centre-right led countries: France, Germany and Italy – have missed their 0.51 per cent targets, while Japan is $4 billion short of the $10 billion it pledged.
Overall, this means that while aid has increased by $27 billion on 2004 levels, OECD countries are $21 billion short of what they promised in 2005. This is partly because lower-than-expected GNI because of the economic crisis, but it is mainly because certain rich countries have failed to meet their commitments. Eckhard Deutscher, Chair of the DAC, noted that:
“Aid has increased strongly as 16 donors have honoured their commitments. But it will still fall considerably short of what was promised. These commitments were made and confirmed repeatedly by heads of governments and it is essential that they be met to the full extent.”
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said:
“Keeping our aid promises has never been more important as the world emerges from an economic crisis that has dragged millions of people back into poverty. I am very pleased that the OECD recognises that the UK is honouring pledges made at Gleneagles in 2005 – particularly on doubling aid to Africa.
“It is disappointing that with only five years left to meet the Millennium Development Goals there is such a shortfall in the levels of aid needed to meet them. It is now vital for other nations to step up to the plate. All governments are currently facing difficult choices but commitments made to the world’s poorest people must not become empty promises.”
Max Lawson, Oxfam senior policy adviser:
“Overseas aid is more important than ever in the midst of an economic crisis that is pushing millions more people into poverty. The missing $21 billion could pay for every child to go to school, and could save the lives of 2 million of the poorest mothers and children.”
The shortfalls of aid commitments will reinforce the calls by campaigners for a Robin Hood Tax. The Financial Transaction Tax would offer a more regular and reliable source of vital funds needed to provide the sort of long-term predictable aid needed to support developing countries build poverty alleviating institutions such as national health and education systems.
by David Taylor
It is almost time for this year’s International Women’s Day (held on the 8th March each year), a day on which a huge many events are held throughout the world: to celebrate the achievements of women, to encourage further action as well as being a day which signals solidarity with other women throughout the globe.
This year the TUC will be holding an exciting celebration involving a variety of entertainment: music, politics, poetry, comedy and some campaigning. It is also an important opportunity for the TUC to showcase some of the work it continues to do globally in order to empower women in their attempts to improve their rights in a number of developing countries.
The event will be opened by Frances O’Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary, Glenys Kinnock will be in attendance, international trade unionists are able to speak and Lorraine Bowen will act as compére throughout the evening. Zena Edwards will be singing, along with hip-hop duo Poetic Pilgrimage and Josie Long will be providing the comedy.
- What: TUC International Women’s Day Celebration 2010
- When: 7-10pm (wine reception from 6pm), Monday 8th March
- Where: TUC Congress Centre 23-28 Great Russel Street, London WC1
- Tickets: prices vary please click here for more information.
It promises to be a fantastic evening and it is well worth attending: for more information, including tickets, check out this link to the TUC event page.
By Daniel Sleat
The Labour Party is running a poll on international development. What do you think should be the priorities?
You can take part in the poll on the Global Poverty Promise website. Your responses will be sent to the Labour manifesto team so this is a great opportunity to have your voice heard on international development. The Party will be reporting back on the ideas that get the most support.
Take part in the poll and share your opinions with the manifesto team! LCID is campaigning to make sure that international development stays high up on Labour’s agenda. We need you to take part and help us make our case.
By Tim Nicholls
Trade unions have played a highly valuable and multifaceted role in Haiti. In many ways the nature of the response by trade unions, not only in the region but around the world and within the UK illustrates the valuable role they can play in international development. While recent newspaper reports, notably in the Times, have sought to discredit DfID’s support for trade unions, recent events underpin their ability to unite work forces around the world on an astonishing scale.
UK trade unions have responded quickly and in some measure to respond to the recent catastrophic events in Haiti. Unison for example made a pledge of £10,000 to the Disasters Emergency Committee, as well as further donations to TUC Aid which will be used by trade unions in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The TUC, as well as helping through its TUC Aid scheme, has moved quickly to organize a concert for Haiti which took place on the 3rd February to raise much needed funds to help with the aftermath of the earthquake.
International trade unions have also been active, largely through the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The funds given by ITUC have largely been used to give much needed humanitarian assistance to Haitian affiliate CTH, via three Dominican Republic unions which united swiftly following the earthquake: CASC-CNUS-CNTD.They collectively sent aid such as water, food and important medical supplies, as well as sending over teams to Haiti and setting up offices to help collect funds, clothing and other essential aid materials. The CTH headquarters was also turned into a refuge for affected workers and a base for the distribution of medical and aid supplies.
A further example of the type of support trade unions have been providing can been seen in the actions of solidarity organisations who sent the CTH two ambulances with staff to help deal with the devastating medical issues arising out of the earthquake.
Clearly trade unions have, in the case of Haiti, played an extremely helpful role in the aftermath of the earthquake. Moreover, these examples underline why trade unions can be so valuable to the government and why DFID supports them.
By Daniel Sleat
Prime Minister criticises climate change skeptics as group to fund developing countries launched
Gordon Brown has criticised climate change sceptics as going “against the grain” of all the scientific evidence, as he launched a new group to raise the money promised by developed countries at Copenhagen.
The United Nations High Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing will be co-chaired by the Prime Minister and Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Its purpose is to work towards one of the substantive promises from the Copenhagen talks: to raise $100 billion by 2020 for developing countries to use in the fight against climate change.
This aid is vital in the struggle against the effects of anthropogenic climate change, due to the disproportionate hardship that it will cause to the world’s poorest countries. These are well-documented and would cause great suffering in developing countries, the effects of which would rapidly spread across national borders.
According to the Prime Minister, the High Level Group will grapple with:
“the task that I believe is the most important we face – combating climate change by ensuring that the poorest countries have the finance necessary to do so… The task before us, while daunting, is a very important one to the future of the environment of the world.”
This aid must not be taken from other international development funding, the Prime Minister said and he is completely right. While international development and the fight against climate change are inextricably linked and must be tackled together, there are also distinct causes to both which require different action. Taking money from the aid budget to fight against climate change will leave the developing world ill equipped for both.
The UK, and especially the UK Government has led the way here. It is vital that that continues. Gordon Brown has made it clear that, under Labour, it will.
By Tim Nicholls
The Labour Campaign for International Development has received more Parliamentary support, this time from Tom Clarke MP. A veteran of International Development discourse, Tom Clarke is a member of the All Party Group on Overseas Development (APGOOD) and introduced the International Development (Reporting and Transparency) Bill in the House of Commons.
“I am delighted to see the promotion of International Development within the Labour Party. Labour has an outstanding record on development issues. A department of Government focused on such an important subject has sent an important message to everyone who cares. Labour’s commitment to achieve the 0.7% GNI United Nations target has even led opposition parties to do the same. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals is a crucial objective and a Labour Government with a renewed mandate is much more likely to lead the world in making all this a reality.”
-Tom Clarke MP
To see more support from Labour MPs for LCID, click here.
By Tim Nicholls
Our latest post for Left Foot Forward.
On the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, the Prime Minister said in a statement that Mandela remains an example that gives people the hope to “struggle anew” for “justice and freedom for all”.
David Cameron, however, was under pressure to apologise for a visit he made to apartheid South Africa from former anti-apartheid campaigners Richard Caborn MP and ex-TUC general secretary Norman Willis.
It emerged in a biography last year that he visited the country as the guest of anti-sanctions lobbyists in 1989, when Mr Mandela was still in jail. According to PA:
“Your trip, paid for by lobbyists against sanctions, was a long time ago,” [Caborn and Willis] wrote. “But it was then, and is now, a question of values and judgment.”
Since the details of this trip became public, you have refused to comment on it, refused to explain why you had to keep it quiet and refused to apologise for your actions.
“We hope that on the anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release, you will set the record straight and do what is right.”
Last year, Peter Hain told the Independent on Sunday that Cameron’s trip was a “sanctions-busting jolly“.
by David Taylor
Tories call Robin Hood tax “hopelessly naive” – despite its backing by world economists
Our latest post for Left Foot Forward.
It is just two days since the “Robin Hood” tax launched and already 23,000 people have voted in favour on the campaign’s online poll: 13,000 signed up by email and 21,500 joined the Facebook Fan page.
The Financial Times reported yesterday that Gordon Brown believes the IMF will endorse a global bank levy before its April meeting in Washington, and that an agreement in principle can then be agreed by world leaders at the G20 summit in June.
It follows his response to a question tabled at Wednesday’s PMQs, in which he stated his belief that:
“We will reach agreement on a global financial levy … I believe that we will be able to go ahead with it in the not too distant future.”
Despite being backed by more than 350 of the world’s leading economists and world leaders, the response from the right-wing blogosphere has been predictably lamentable.
Conservative Home led with a blog that described the tax as a “fairytale” that “won’t help anyone”, with centre-right ‘non-party political’ thinktank Reform calling it “hopelessly naive”.
Meanwhile, perhaps taking the Tea Party “revolution” as their inspiration, a “The Robin Hood Tax is a stupid idea!” Facebook page has been set up. It has 31 fans. It appears to be an aggregator of some of the Tory blogosphere’s reaction to the tax.
Here is a selection:
• “It’s lunatic on the very face of it”
• “They’re fucking mad, aren’t they?” – Adam Smith Institute blogger Tim Worstall
• “The last thing we want is to increase benefits or money to those out of work. If it is to be used to help prevent climate change, as I read elsewhere, do we really need another ‘Green Tax’ from this government?”
• “The Robin Hood Tax is just there for socialists and other Trots to latch on to a figure of public hatred and propel their communist views” – Cardiff Blogger, ranked 26th top Conservative blogger (by Total Politics)
• “This is an absurd concept that pulls figures out of its arse and expects everyone to just believe it” – Conservative candidate for Three Rivers district council Chris Hawes
• An “initiative by the economically illiterate designed to appeal to those who are economically illiterate” – Conservative blogger James Burdett
• “Even though I fear that wading in may make it look even more like the Tory Bloggers have received their marching orders on the Robin Hood Tax I’m going to add my two cents (or should that be 0.005%) to the general condemnation of it” – “Stratford Conservative“
There are a few common themes running through their arguments which are worth addressing.
Claim #1: It will harm the economy
Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said this of short-term trading in an interview with the Evening Standard:
“Does anybody seriously believe that anything happens because of the sort of micro-second trading we’re now seeing? It’s a function of speed. No investments are being made as a result of it, no jobs are being created.
“Finance has a vital socially important role to fulfil, which is to raise capital, to run payment systems, to oil the wheels of everything society does. But the bankers fail to perform that socially useful function — and because of that, the world’s economy has suffered.”
Claim #2: It will harm ordinary consumers, including ‘holidaymakers when they exchange money at the airport’
The Robin Hood tax campaign FAQ states that:
“The Robin Hood Tax will not impact on personal banking or on retail banking. That’s because it targets a distinct area of bank operations – high-frequency large-volume trading, undertaken by financial institutions in the ‘casino economy’.
“If you change money to go on holiday, send remittances abroad, invest in a pension fund or take out a mortgage, you will not be affected by this tiny tax.”
Claim #3: It will never work because a global agreement will not be reached
Gordon Brown said in PMQs that it “must be done by countries working together” – and with Germany and France having previously backed the idea, and the PM speaking of an agreement at the next IMF and G20 meetings, a global bank levy is closer now than at any time since James Tobin proposed the idea.
Adam Lent, the TUC’s head of economic and social affairs, has argued that if enough momentum could be built up to bring the US and Japan on board, then:
“The biggest financial centres will be covered making it very difficult for financial companies to avoid the tax by shifting transactions or operations elsewhere.”
The campaign itself stresses unilateral action could be taken, proposing that:
“While an internationally agreed tax system is the best way to proceed, the UK Government and European Union should start extending transaction taxes already in existence, such as the UK’s 0.5 per cent stamp duty on shares.”
To conclude, no one in favour of the Robin Hood tax is arguing that it is the magic bullet in the war against poverty. The same organisations involved in pushing this campaign have long argued for reform of the international institutions governing globalisation, a fair global trade deal and a fair global deal to tackle climate change, and they will continue to do so.
There is no contradiction, however, in also trying to seize a once-in-a-generation chance to build an opportunity from crisis and push for £400 billion. This is and idea whose time has come.
by David Taylor
