The Christian Aid Rally in London - December 5 2009

It’s all about publicity if you want to have any influence ahead of the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change and Christian Aid managed it in style thanks to the 40,000 marchers who turned up in London and 8,000 in Glasgow. On the eight o’clock news we were the second item and at ten we were the lead on ITN. Thank you Christian Aid, the organization was excellent and it was a privilege to be part of your rally.

The 3,000 people who managed to get a seat inside the Methodist Central Hall heard thoughtful addresses from The Right Honorable Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster.

In a reading from the Old Testament, Job is reminded by God how little he understands the World. Archbishop Rowan Williams emphasised that the whole of creation has to be at one with itself to fulfill God’s purpose. Man is not separate from the world and we need to realise that by exploiting it we will ultimately harm ourselves. We heard speakers from Bangladesh and Burkina Faso in Africa describing how global warming is already causing devastating floods which are hitting the poorest the hardest. Rowan Williams responded firmly by stating that it is the duty of the richer nations to exercise fairness in relation to the poorer ones. If this means we will have less, then so be it. He ended on a note of hope rather than fear - God will show us the way forward.

The main march was from Grosvenor Square, down Berkeley Street and St.James Street to St.James Park and then on to the Houses of Parliament. The marchers surrounded the Parliament buildings by processing over Lambeth Bridge and Westminster Bridge. The hope was to create a Mexican Wave around the whole march at 3 o’clock. The Offington group was at the head and waved enthusiastically, wishing we had the advantage of the helicopter’s view on the wave’s progress.

Cheers erupted when we heard that Gordon Brown had promised to welcome a delegation. Subsequently he spoke strongly on the national news of his determination to achieve a fair agreement for all nations..