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Standing ovation over call for aid to Africa
BOB Geldof jetted into Yorkshire direct from the G8 summit yesterday to deliver an impassioned speech to Yorkshire's business leaders about the problems facing Africa.
The acclaimed humanitarian campaigner arrived at the 12th Yorkshire International Business Convention in Yorkshire property tycoon Paul Sykes's private jet – and he boarded it again moments after his speech ended to return to the summit in Germany.
With his trademark tousled hair, unshaven face, and chewing gum throughout his speech, the former Boomtown Rats frontman asked the audience to forgive him as his head was filled with "G8 stuff".
However, he spoke powerfully for 40 minutes without notes and received a standing ovation from the 1,500-strong audience.
Geldof said he had received a call as he arrived at the convention to say that leaders had signed a communiqu on African poverty following his efforts alongside fellow rock star Bono the previous day.
He said: "There is no shadow of a doubt that extreme poverty and climate change are the cardinal issues of the 21st century. If we do not act then this century will unfold into predictable tragedy."
He said that if the leaders who signed the agreement broke that "contract" they were as responsible as those businesses that failed to deliver. The difference was, he emphasised, that if a contract was unfulfilled companies might lose money – but in Africa thousands of lives would be lost.
He asked: "Why do politicians think they can behave differently like a business breaking a contract or a parent breaking a promise to a child?"
He said he had been dealing with eight world leaders representing countries "who have GDP of tens of trillions of dollars – more zeros than you could write down. They have said they will double aid to Africa by 2010, which is 50bn, a serious figure."
Geldof said that ordinary people as well as political and business leaders could play a part in the battle against poverty in Africa by investing and doing business in and with the continent.
He said that he doubted there was anyone in the audience who had not heard of the Band Aid song Feed the World or Live Aid or Live8.
He added: "I am not bigging you up but part of this is you. We have been doing this in this county since 1984."
He added that if politicians failed on their promises they, "failed to deliver on the cross in the election booth and I won't have it".
He added: "It is pathetic these are really smart people. Can someone do something? It is called leadership, I think. We are talking about something serious, about our future."
However he praised the efforts of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and said of the departing Prime Minister, "the guy is fighting like crazy to get them (the G8 leaders] to be serious, for fair play".
He gave the audience an insight into his time at the summit – describing some of the bizarre events he had experienced.
Geldof laughed as he described dealing with the most influential and powerful world leaders – particularly when he visited Italian premier Romano Prodi's suite to convince him to back more aid for Africa and the politician retired to the "loo" with his advisers to discuss a response.
US civil rights campaigner Rev. Jesse Jackson was critical of the G8 summit and even waded into the latest Big Brother race row.
He said a summit on major global issues should involve more than "eight white leaders" and added: "We must unite and let the real world come to the table."
Commenting on Big Brother, Rev Jackson said there was no place for racist language in today's culture.
"Degradation is offensive; it's not endearment," he said.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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