Brown calls for ‘modern Marshall Plan’ for Africa

Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced that he will demand 100% debt relief as part of a ‘modern Marshall Plan’ for Africa at the G8 summit in Scotland next month.

Announcing his plans in Edinburgh today, Mr Brown also said he would propose an international finance facility to provide funding for vaccination programmes at the summit, which will take place in Gleneagles between July 6 – 8. He also proposed doubling foreign aid and reducing trade restrictions and eliminating trade subsidies.

The Chancellor said that he could not justify that a situation which allowed African countries to continue to be burdened by debt they had had for 20 or 30 years and said that his proposals would represent “a new deal between rich and poor countries” and would provide poorer countries with the money to provide proper education and healthcare.

Mr Brown said: “This is not a time for timidity nor a time to fear reaching too high. We are determined the empowerment of the people of Africa can be made possible.”

However, Britain could face opposition from the US over the proposals. President George Bush has already indicated that the plans do not fit with the American “budgetary process”.

The Chancellor has also announced plans to write off £500,000 in VAT from the staging of the Live 8 concerts, organised by Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof, which will take place on July 2. The concerts, which will take place simultaneously in venues in Paris, Rome, Berlin and Philadelphia, as well as in London’s Hyde Park, are being held to highlight the problem of debt in developing countries. A number of major stars, including Madonna, Coldplay, Sting and Scissor Sisters are already lined up to play the Hyde Park concert.

Speaking on ‘GMTV’, Mr Brown said that hoped the Spice Girls would reform to play at the event and also said that he hoped that Queen would play a part in the event as well. He said: “Now if all of these came together with the artists in America, then it just shows the power of people to change things and I think young people particularly should know that by coming together you can change the world.”

The Chancellor has also backed Mr Geldof’s calls for a protest in Edinburgh on the opening day of the G8 summit, but stressed that any protests should be peaceful. He said: “People have a right to make a peaceful protest and that is something people should be able to do but it must be peaceful and I think everybody in Edinburgh wants to see that happen.”

(KMcA/SP)