ANOTHER OPEN LETTER

by RAY FLEMING
TO: Everyone at Live 8.
FROM: Tony Blair, George W Bush, Silvio Berlusconi, Jacques Chirac, Junichiro Koizumi, Paul Martin, Vladimir Putin, Gerard Schroder.
Hi guys.
Thanks for your Open Letter to us published in all the newspapers yesterday. We think you've done a great job in organising all the Live 8 concerts, especially since so many of the artists come from the time when we were young and idealistic. Thanks for that, especially. We appreciate your insistence that this time we, the 8 leaders of the G8, are the stars of the show. Since you have given us the stage there are one or two things we would like to say to you and to what you call “the largest mandate for action in history” in the battle towards making poverty history. We don't want to quibble over words, but are you right to claim that the crowds listening to the music represent a mandate for change on Aid, Debt and Trade as these affect Africa? Are they not rather just young people who enjoy gathering together to hear top class acts performing the kind of music they like? How do you know they “will not tolerate the further pain of the poor while we have the financial and moral means to prevent it”? Did they have to sign a pledge before getting a ticket? Will they undertake to become politically informed and active when the concerts are over? We ask this because, as politicans, what we need most in all our countries is a consistently interested and active younger generation engaging with the domestic and international issues of the day, especially the issue which you raise so eloquently in your Open Letter. We shall certainly do our best at Gleneagles but ultimately what we can achieve is conditioned by our electorates. If they are alert to the issues and committed to finding solutions our task in providing the necessary leadership would become much easier. Thanks, anyway. Everyone at G8.