Prioritise people and environment, Brown told

Today, a UK coalition of 24 of the most influential trade unions, development charities, environmental groups and religious leaders wrote to the Prime Minister calling on him to put people and the environment at the heart of the international economic system. The letter was sent as Gordon Brown leaves for the G20 Summit in Washington on Saturday 15 November.

Recognising that the global financial crisis will cause great hardship for people in the UK and around the world, the coalition declares that effective government action is needed to manage economies sustainably and demands that the international economic system be made more accountable to all people, particularly the poorest.

The letter was signed by the heads of the Trades Union Congress, Oxfam, ActionAid, Christian Aid, World Development Movement, UNISON, WWF-UK, Friends of the Earth, Save the Children and War on Want, among many others. It was also signed by the religious leaders Rt Rev John Rawsthorne, Bishop of Hallam and Dr Muhamed Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Workers everywhere are facing the same problems, they are fearful about losing their jobs and their homes, and worried about what impact the world's economic slowdown will have on their families. Governments around the world must work together urgently to find ways of boosting their various economies to limit the impact of recession and must re-write the global economic rules so that financial markets and the banks come under a much greater degree of scrutiny in future."

Max Lawson, policy advisor at Oxfam GB agreed: "This is the best opportunity in decades to make the system of international economic governance fairer for and more representative of poor people. We urge Gordon Brown to work to ensure existing commitments on aid will be met and to build a new representative global governance system."

Christian Aid policy manager Alex Cobham said: "Christian Aid estimates that the existing global financial system allows big business to dodge some $160 billion of corporate tax in the developing world every year. This has disastrous effects on poor people?s lives. World leaders should seize this rare opportunity to enact reforms which will allow developing countries to collect what is rightfully theirs."

Dr. Claire Melamed, head of advocacy at ActionAid stressed: "The financial crisis will cost developing countries hundreds of billions of dollars of lost growth over the next few years. This weekend's meeting needs to urgently agree a package to compensate those countries. Poor people should not be left to suffer while banks are bailed out."

Benedict Southworth, director of the World Development Movement said: "Despite Gordon Brown's rhetoric on overhauling the global system, the G20 summit risks making the same mistakes based on flawed ideologies and power politics that got us into the current mess. Brown is pushing for a new world trade deal without acknowledging the inherent injustices that stack the benefits of free trade in favour of big business, but harm people in developing countries, who aren't invited to the G20 meeting. Our leaders need to urgently realise that politics as usual is not going to get us out of the current crisis."

The letter from UK organisations complements demands made globally by more than 850 civil society organisations. Their statement calls for a major international conference convened by the UN to review the international financial and monetary architecture, its institutions and its governance but only if it is inclusive and participatory of all governments of the world; includes representatives from civil society; is transparently organised and is comprehensive in scope.

For more information contact:

Liz Chinchen, TUC
lchinchen@tuc.org.uk
020 7467 1388,

Asha Tharoor, ActionAid
Asha.Tharoor@actionaid.org
020 7561 7634

Rachel Baird, Christian Aid
RBaird@christian-aid.org
020 7523 2446, 07969 314 117

Lysbeth Holdoway or Dan Timms, Oxfam
lholdoway@oxfam.org.uk, dtimms@oxfam.org.uk
018 6547 2484/2193

Kate Blagojevic, World Development Movement
Kate.Blagojevic@wdm.org.uk
020 7820 4900/4913, 07711 875 345

Peter Chowla, Bretton Woods Project
pchowla@brettonwoodsproject.org
020 7561 7547, 07877 596 893

----------------------------------------------------
Text of the letter sent to the Prime Minister
-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Prime Minister,

As you are aware, the financial crisis has prompted an economic crisis which will cause great hardship for people in the UK and around the world. The poorest and most vulnerable, already suffering from unprecedented rises in food and commodity prices, will be hardest hit. The current economic system has created great inequalities of wealth and power which are not only morally unjust, but also economically and environmentally inefficient and unsustainable. Tackling poverty and inequality is an essential part of recovering from this crisis.

This is also a crisis for the institutions that govern the world economy, and the failed policies they have pursued. The international financial and economic system affects us all and therefore must be governed in a democratic and accountable manner. The G20 summit in Washington on November 15th can only be an initial step on the road to fundamental reform. The UN should lead a process of comprehensive reform which allows all governments and civil society to participate, in a transparent and open manner.

At the heart of the new approach should be a recognition that effective government action is needed to manage economies sustainably, and that past approaches have failed. The current structures and policies actively restrict the ability of governments to do what is needed to serve the public interest, and must be changed.

The critical changes include:
- Democratisation of international economic institutions to make the system more accountable to all people, particularly the poorest.
- A major recovery plan that puts people and the environment at its heart. Investment in a low-carbon economy is both an urgent priority to prevent climate chaos, and the most sensible economic strategy for the future.
- The regulation of finance, including:
- Effectively regulating complex financial instruments and practices and the parties involved in them;
- Tackling tax havens and tax avoidance by multinational companies and wealthy individuals; and
- Radically improving governance and transparency on financial markets.
- Fair and just systems and rules for international trade and debt

We believe that the objective should be to create a system that reduces inequality, creates jobs, protects vulnerable citizens, ensures a healthy environment, and works to eradicate poverty.

We look forward to an early opportunity to discuss these issues with you in more depth.

Signed,

Richard Miller, Executive Director, ActionAid UK
Rt Rev John Rawsthorne, Bishop of Hallam
Nick Roseveare, Chief Executive, BOND
Jesse Griffiths, Coordinator, Bretton Woods Project
Chris Bain, Executive Director, CAFOD
Daleep Mukarji, Director, Christian Aid
Andy Atkins, Executive Director, Friends of the Earth ? England Wales and Northern Ireland
John Sauven, Executive Director, Greenpeace UK
David Cockroft, General Secretary, International Transport Workers' Federation
Dr Muhamed Abdul Bari, Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain
Nick Dearden, Director, Jubilee Debt Campaign
Graham Bennett, Director, One World Action
David McCullough, Acting Chief Executive, Oxfam GB
Sheila Davie, Executive Director, RESULTS UK
Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive, Save the Children UK
Alan Smith, Chair, Stop AIDS Campaign
John Christensen, Director, Tax Justice Network
Matthew Frost, CEO, Tearfund
Brendan Barber, General Secretary, Trades Union Congress
Dave Prentis, General Secretary, UNISON
John Hilary, Director, War on Want
Benedict Southworth, Director, World Development Movement
Charles Badenoch, CEO, World Vision UK
David Nussbaum, Chief Executive, WWF-UK