Anti Poverty March Edinburgh 2005
WHERE WERE YOU? - DO YOU REMEMBER?- WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE? DO YOU KNOW? |
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The Celtic Heritage Trust after much deliberation decided to fully commit to the demonstrations that had been organised to run parallel with the G8 summit. The decision was based on the fact that CLIMATE CHANGE, human activity and poverty are inextricably linked. Thus, to address poverty in the long term it is vital that the Governments of this world move towards vigorous actions that will alleviate the causes of climate change in the short-term. After all we are supposed to be committed to sustainable development. This short report will provide our members an insight into what our members witnessed first hand. The 2005 Anti Poverty March was held in unison at both global and local levels, the Edinburgh Anti Poverty March was to be one of the largest. The CHT decided to attend the Edinburgh meeting because this would enable us to continue to Gleneagles where the G8 summit was to be held. In the opinion of the Celtic Heritage Trust It was apparent that the March had been carefully engineered and on closer inspection failed miserably to deliver a clear message to the G8- in fact the whole essence of the March was a complete farce for the following reasons! |
The Edinburgh Anti Poverty March for most people did not march anywhere- people were kept marching on the spot- our members most certainly marched on the spot without moving for some four hours- as people became bored or tired they would go and join another queue in the hope that it may move- though this was not the case, most just accepted the situation and allowed themselves to be entertained by the ‘big screens and stages. However a few people were allowed to March (see pic) which was clearly for global Media purposes. The point here is that individuals in the first world are supposed to be free to protest in a peaceful manner- this was denied to the majority of people that had attended this event.
This event was supposed to be an Anti-Poverty March to highlight the situation for those in less fortunate circumstances - However the park where the Edinburgh Anti Poverty March was to start was filled with corporate food vans ! (all from the same company) and members of the public who travelled to protest were systematically ‘fleeced’ by these companies for coffee (£1.50+) and food (£1.70 for cold chips). There was no evidence that any of the huge profit made by these companies from this most important event would be making there way to the third world countries that so need help. The point here is- many of the problems that exist in the third world are often exasperated by the activities of corporate organisations, therefore the Anti Poverty March of Edinburgh was a contradiction in terms, we were almost made to sanctify the actions of companies that are taking advantage of third world countries by being forced ‘subliminally’ to taking part in the same actions. MAINPOINT_There should have been more individuals allowed to provide food for the masses - Perhaps we should revisit the notion of FREETRADE!. Check the picture to the left and Think About It! >. . |
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Perhaps we also should be aware that the UK has developed a very close alliance with the United States of America – we seem to be following USA methodologies- Fast Food - Gun Culture- - etc. . . but food for your thought – the USA have many Senators and Presidents that use to be stage/film actors, for example, President Ronald Reagan, Senator Arnold Schwarzenegger – is this trend about to affect us in the UK will we also have used to be Pop Stars and Actors as MPs and maybe Prime Ministers? |
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Link to http://www.bobgeldof.info/ NEW MERCHANDISE INCLUDING BOB GELDOF UNDER THE INFLUENCE |
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GELDOLFS LIVE SHAME SHOW!: by Henk Ruyssenaars - Former Africa correspondent Geldof's tsunami of music :. . And those same activities, right now worsening the situation for the population of Africa - the reason of all poverty and misery - was drowned in a Geldof made tsunami of good music, making many of us forget what the dirty racket really is about. Mediawise trying to 'cover up' and make us forget about who the real criminals are, which make help more needed than ever: namely Geldof's friends Bush, Blair and their ilk, permanently committing crimes against humanity. Geldof orchestrated a global multinational 'Lullaby'. Universally - looking at Geldof & friends - one should ask the same as Monbiot did in the Guardian: 'How much damage do Bush and Blair have to do before the rock stars will acknowledge it? Geldof and Bono's campaign for philanthropy portrays the enemies of the poor as their saviors. The good these two remarkable men have done is in danger of being outweighed by the harm.'' |
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This is an extract from a report by Save the Children. . World leaders have broken promises made at the G8 summit last summer, according to a leading member of the Make Poverty History campaign. A report by Save the Children, said that governments had failed to 'listen hard enough to their public' and concluded that 'the leap forward demanded by MPH campaigners has not been delivered'. Matt Phillips, author of Did World Leaders Make Child Poverty History? and head of public affairs at Save the Children, said: 'Make Poverty History was unequivocal in what it was demanding; long-run eradication of poverty. But we have a generation of leaders who aren't willing to [deliver] that.' He said the campaign saw 10 million people wearing the white band, 250,000 taking to the streets of Edinburgh and 540 organisations coming together to push for an end to world poverty: 'The politicians had a mandate to do much more than they did.' All the efforts were focused on persuading the heads of the world's richest countries to give more aid, slash debt and promote fairer trade for the world's poorest. Bob Geldof pronounced G8 the most important summit Africa had ever seen. 'On aid, 10 out of 10. On debt, eight out of 10,' he claimed. Phillips criticised governments for failing to use two key opportunities in September - the UN Millennium Summit and the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund - to make the 'rhetoric' of G8 a reality. The report highlights progress, such as a clear timetable for EU countries towards giving 0.7 per cent of national income in aid and debt cancellation for 18 countries by the World Bank, IMF and Africa Development Bank. But it says there were more than 60 countries needing debt cancellation and the agreement to remove 'damaging economic policies' as a condition for debt cancellation and aid had not been followed through. Phillips said the UK led many of the agreements and was the strongest advocate of change at G8. However, it had been too quiet in subsequent meetings. John Hilary, director of campaigns for War on Want, said G8 delivered two out of 10 on aid and one out of 10 on debt. 'We feel we have been deceived by the government.' Number 10 said it was too soon to expect major changes and insisted the Prime Minister was working tirelessly to turn the words into reality. One of Tony Blair's advisers said: 'He asks almost every day where we have got to in taking the G8 commitments forward. He is focused on delivering promises.' Film director Richard Curtis, one of the main organisers of Live8, said critics should not ignore the successes of 2005. 'Make Poverty History did make people aware that this was a political issue, not just a charitable one. There were promises on Aids, health and education that do not get written about - the global coalition estimates that if the promises are delivered they will save 12,000 lives a day.' |
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How well did we do. . REALLY !
