Jubilee 2000 events take off around the country with 400 days to go to the Millennium

 

With the countdown to the Millennium reaching the 400 day mark, activists across Britain used the occasion to stress the urgent need for action by the British Government on debt cancellation. Following swiftly after the crisis in Nicaragua and Honduras, ordinary people have again demonstrated the huge bedrock of support for debt cancellation and the Jubilee 2000 campaign.

In Wales, organisations used the occasion to join together to launch a Welsh Jubilee 2000 Coalition. A human chain was formed between the Temple of Peace and the Welsh office in Cardiff. Amongst the participants were Cardiff MP Julie Morgan, Noel Davies, secretary of CYTUN (Churches Together in Wales), David Jenkins of Wales TUC, Mohamed Yusuf of the Welsh Refugee Council and Ann Pettifor. The event was given added significance by the presence of Johnny Hodgson, from Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast who spoke on behalf of Nicaraguan organisations struggling to cancel Nicaragua's debt.

Ben Gregory, Welsh Jubilee 2000 organiser, “Nicaraguans who visited Wales gave the best reason for cancelling their debts. They said they have paid their debts with their lives. We agree and think Britain should join the growing list of countries who have given complete debt cancellation.”

The immorality of Nicaragua and Honduras paying debts after the disaster was also behind the actions of Jubilee 2000 supporter, Mirella Moxom. She joined with others in Leeds to chain up the mayor and his limousine. She said: “I think it is very significant that we chained up the mayor at the same time as the Christian Aid ship arrived in Honduras with aid from the British people. We need to do all we can to help Hondurans and Nicaraguans rebuild their country, and this must include debt cancellation.”

The symbol of chains linked many of the local events. In Nottingham, a chain gang processed across the city led by the Town Crier before chaining up a famous local monument. In the Isle of Wight, the local coalition formed a human chain around the Christmas Tree in the city centre of Newport. In Macclesfield, a chain gang processed across the city before presenting a giant cheque of £237 billion payable to the richest countries by the poorest countries. Nicholas Winterton, local MP then proceeded to cut the cheque up.

Students, from the campaigning organisation, People and Planet played a particularly active role. In London over 2000 `chain-link' postcards were handed over to Tony Blair at Downing Street. They were collected by students in over 110 colleges. Many students attached a coin to their card symbolising their commitment to achieving real debt relief. At the same time, in Edinburgh Scottish students marched in a chain gang to hand over cards to the Scottish office.

Most creative of all, stretcher bearers staggered across central Manchester with a metal body of chains. 6 foot long, weighing just over 65 kilos and made entirely of chains, the Body of Chains was designed by local sculptors Neil Powell and Keith Weston. The body symbolises the debts ensnaring the poorest countries, and was commissioned by Paul Place, Christian Aid organiser.

Paul Place said: “Over half of what Ethiopia earns goes to repay debts. This means very little is available for health. The sculptors have managed to capture and portray how this problem of debt seeps into the very soul and being of each individual in the Third World.” The sculpture is being used to draw attention to Jubilee 2000 activities taking place across the city. One of these was a debate on the motion “The Jubilee 2000 campaign is naïve” held on the evening of the 27^th. The motion is being proposed by Edward Quicke, a retired World Bank senior economist and opposed by Martin Drewry, Campaigns Team Leader at Christian Aid.

In Bristol , the local Jubilee 2000 Coalition linked up with a local school to plant 400 bulbs in the school grounds. The bulbs symbolised the 400 lives of children lost yearly in Zambia as a result of the debts owed to the UK. Andy OíBrien, the local organiser said; "Children are the first to suffer from the effects of the debt crisis in the poorest countries. The British Government must act now before more lives are lost".

Marlene Barrett, Campaigns officer for Jubilee 2000 Coalition said: “Time is running out for leaders of the rich creditor nations. Ordinary people from across Britain have again made it clear that too many lives have been lost in the debt crisis and that the new millennium must be celebrated free of the burden of debt.”