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Campaigners tell Gordon Brown to Close the Gap
On 15 December, members of Church Action on Poverty and our friends and partners went together to Downing Street. They handed in our special petition, calling on Gordon Brown to close the growing gap between rich and poor in the UK.
Campaigners handing in our Close the Gap petition at Downing Street
In the summer, hundreds of people participated in our special vote, giving a clear message for Gordon Brown on how to Close the Gap. This week, five people, out of the hundreds who took part, personally handed in the votes at 10 Downing Street.
These passionate campaigners represented some of the many partner networks who have joined in the campaign: Emma from Young Christian Workers, Liam and Norbert from Church Action on Poverty, Catherine from livesimply, and Joe from the Student Christian Movement. They were joined by our friend John Battle MP to present the box of votes.
You can see the results of the vote for yourself in our Close the Gap report.
We took a video camera along and recorded what our team had to say:
Campaigners talk about their reasons for joining the campaign
John Battle MP talks about why he supports the campaign
Joe Nagle of the Student Christian Movement tells us why students support the campaign
Catherine Waters-Clark talks about the connection between Close the Gap and the livesimply network
The votes were only the start. In the last couple of months, we have built an online network who are busy campaigning on these issues. Over 100 different MPs were contacted about the Poverty Premium which sees the poorest paying most for gas and electricity.
Campaigners are now emailing Peter Mandelson - the minister with the power to act on this issue - that companies should be banned from lending at extortionate interest rates of 100%, 500% or even 1,000%. Most European countries and many American states have a legal limit on the what lenders can get away with. If you haven't already joined the Close the Gap campaign, please join in now:
