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To: maceng2 who wrote (792)	6/4/2005 3:13:43 PM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) of 1417

Time for US to be daring over Africa, says Brown By Angus Macleod and David Charter timesonline.co.uk GORDON Brown dared President Bush yesterday to commit the US to a giant leap in aid and debt relief for Africa before crunch talks next week. The Chancellor raised the stakes for Tony Blair’s make-or-break meeting with Mr Bush on his ambitious plans to help poor nations and combat climate change during Britain’s presidency of the G8. Mr Brown, speaking with the full knowledge of Number 10 as Mr Blair prepared to fly to Washington, said: “This is not a time for timidity, nor a time to fear reaching new heights.” The Chancellor spoke out after waiving the £500,000 VAT bill for the Live 8 concerts timed to raise awareness of Africa’s plight before the G8 summit in Gleneagles next month. Mr Brown also seemed to support Bob Geldof’s controversial call for a million people to march on Edinburgh to protest about world poverty. Speaking on GMTV, he said: “We are going to support people who want to make their views known. We want a peaceful demonstration. People have a right to make a peaceful protest and that is something people should be able to do.” Mr Bush has refused to support Mr Brown’s plan to double aid by allowing African nations to issue bonds on the back of long-term cash guarantees from rich nations. But a deal on another key part of Britain’s plans — 100 per cent multi-lateral debt relief — appeared close to agreement after months of negotiations. The Treasury appeared confident that the US would support plans to wipe out the £15 billion owed by African nations to institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund over the next ten years. So far US officials have poured scorn on Mr Brown’s proposal for IMF gold reserves to be revalued or sold off to cover the cost of writing off these debts. But agreement is understood to be within reach for rich nations to compensate the institutions on the debt they would write-off. The Times understands that this would mean Britain finding around ten per cent of the total, around £1.5 billion. Aid agencies welcomed the Chancellor’s tough and upbeat message as he prepared for his own EU and G7 finance ministers’ talks next week. Mr Blair will lobby senior US politicians personally on Tuesday morning before he meets Mr Bush. Although he did not directly refer to Washington, Mr Brown used a news conference in Edinburgh to increase the moral pressure on the US by placing himself firmly on the side of those planning to march to Scotland. He said: “This is is our chance to reverse the fortunes of a continent and to help to transform the lives of millions. There is a desire that public generosity be given enduring purpose in a new relationship between rich and poor countries. “Member countries of the EU are ready to make their contribution to meeting these problems in developing countries. I believe we can widen the consensus for Gleneagles.” The US has said it is opposed to a central component of the British initiative which aims to double aid to the continent in the next decade. Britain argues that unless significantly more money is found, the United Nations’ Millennium Goal of halving world poverty by 2015 will be impossible to meet. Oxfam said that the coming week would be crucial for whether the G8 delivers full debt relief and a doubling of aid. A spokesman added: “Tony Blair needs to show he is 100 per cent committed by playing hardball with reluctant G8 leaders.” Mr Brown said that he had had talks over the past 48 hours with John Snow, the US Treasury Secretary, aimed at bridging the gap between them.

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