Adrian Lovett, Deputy Director, Jubilee 2000 Coalition

Celebrate Jubilee, London, 2 December 2000

In the last three years, I have seen I have seen Popes meet pop stars. I have seen grown Republican senators cry. I have seen London taxi drivers persuaded by a rational argument. And I have seen more vicars in chains than is probably healthy.

So much of what we have all done together in the Jubilee 2000 campaign has had to be seen to be believed. And yet before that, to borrow a line from a song you heard earlier, it also had to be believed to be seen. Because we believed that a movement of ordinary people could change the world, that movement became a reality. Through hard work, yes. Through the incredible personal sacrifice of many gathered here today. But most of all, because we believed. And that belief, fuelled by the exhilaration in Birmingham, confirmed by breakthrough in Cologne, sorely tested by betrayal in Okinawa – that belief is what unites us now.

So I am proud today. I am proud that because of this movement, half a billion dollars every year is already being diverted from debt payments and is being spent right now where it always should have been – on schools and roads and health clinics and clean water. I am proud that because of this movement, a great collection of petition signatures has been amassed – and now with more than 24 million names, it is claimed officially as the biggest petition the world has ever seen. I am proud that because of this movement, for the last three years I have worked with the most dedicated, the most talented, the most ambitious and imaginative and resilient team of people I have ever met; a staff team that could not have sweated and hurt and given more for this cause. And I am deeply proud that because of this movement and the sincerity of the Chancellor who spoke to us a few minutes ago, as of today, this country has effectively stopped taking the money from 41 of the poorest countries of the world. Chancellor: we asked; you delivered; we'll be back for more, but for now, we thank you.

But I am proud too that what I see before me here, after these extraordinary months and years of work, is not exhaustion but energy. Not despondency but determination. And it's a good job too. Because we've got some work to do. Despite our successes, we know we have not done enough yet. By Christmas, because of our pressure, 20 countries will be getting initial relief on their debt payments – but more than that will still be waiting. Even for those 20, governments are likely to be spending more still on debt payments than they do on health care. Still only one country – Uganda – will have received actual debt write-off. Key countries, like Nigeria, are still excluded from the debt cancellation altogether – and excluded from the Chancellor's promise today. And the process that determines debt cancellation is still loaded with too many conditions that hurt the poor and too many negotiations where the creditors hold all the cards. We must go further. We can do more. Debt cancellation is the unfinished business of the millennium year.

But I don't believe we should necessarily just go on campaigning forever, with no particular goal or focus. Jubilee 2000 has had success precisely because of its clear focus. So I say let's look to the forthcoming G8 Summit, in Genoa, next July. The Italian debt campaign, Sdebitarsi, already has major popular support. The Pope and the Vatican will keep up the moral pressure. The leading candidates in the Italian general election – taking place next spring – are both interested. In your programme today, you'll see how you can send a message to them both to let them know you want to see a New Deal on Debt by the time of the Genoa summit.

So let's commit ourselves today to come back in the New Year and launch ourselves towards this new goal. Alongside the vital longer-term projects that you're hearing about today, the Drop the Debt campaign, focused on winning a New Deal on Debt by the time of the Genoa Summit, will take forward the spirit, the passion, the energy and the sanity of Jubilee 2000. Let's say it now: we're going to Genoa. Are you with us?

There's an amazing piece of writing that Ben Okri produced last year, as his way of marking the millennium. It's called Mental Fight. It says this:

“Never again will we stand

On the threshold of a new age.

We that are here now are touched

In some mysterious way

With the ability to change

And make the future.

Those who wake to the wonder

Of this magic moment

Who wake to the possibilities

Of this charged conjunction,

Are the chosen ones who have chosen

To act, to free the future, to open it up,

To consign prejudices to the past,

To open the magic casement

Of the human spirit

Onto a more shining world.”

In many ways, it feels as if its been raining for a very long time. And yet, today, I think we see the sunshine.

ENDS