UK JOINS 'VULTURE' LIST (Fiona Hall MEP)

Fiona Hall MEP <info@fionahall.org.uk>

UK JOINS 'VULTURE' LIST

November 9, 2007 12:00 AM

In response to the revelations uncovered by Liberal Democrats that the UK has demanded some of the poorest nations in the world to pay hundreds of millions of pounds, the North-East's Lib Dem MEP, Fiona Hall, has said we should follow the lead of our European partners and drop the debt.

A Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament was given access to documents by the World Bank that show that English Courts have demanded £236.7 million to be paid to 'vulture' funds. These are funds that buy up unpaid debt to developing world countries and sue for the full amount plus interest to be paid. Effectively, large companies in the developed world are making huge sums of money out of developing world nations that are struggling to get on their feet.

Member of the European Parliament Development Committee, Fiona Hall, has long campaigned to relieve debt in the developing world and recently added her support to the Parliamentarians' Declaration for Shared Responsibility for Sovereign Lending demanding the writing off of 'illegitimate' loans to developing nations.

Commenting on the latest figures, Ms Hall said:

"How can Gordon Brown sit back and talk about justice for Africa when this practice is going on in English courts? This is a loop-hole that needs to be closed, and quickly.

"The debtor countries we are talking about here are often struggling to get food and water to their population. The average age of death is much lower than in more developed nations, and literacy rates are no-where near what they need to be to have any chance of lifting the countries out of cyclical poverty for years to come.

"European nations such as Norway have shown a real commitment to removing all barriers that stand in the way of development for these countries.

"This practice runs against all our ethical beliefs. It is simply unacceptable in the 21st Century that we allow companies to make profit out of these circumstances. Liberal Democrats call on this Government to act now."