"I came up for the protest yesterday. But I feel the protest yesterday and particularly the Live 8 concerts made it mainstream, and have taken the focus away from the root issues. Issues around the political structure, how capitalism and imperialism are causing poverty in Africa, how protectionism is preventing fair trade.
"There’s a lot of hypocrisy from Tony Blair and the European aid policies, and they’re not getting to the issues that really count.
“I think the march was important, because it raised awareness within this country and across Europe, and it involved a lot of people who wouldn’t normally focus on world poverty.
"Today is important because it’s very easy to go to yesterday’s rally but not to challenge the politics. It’s easy to say we want to give more aid or we’re going to cancel the debt, but it’s not really challenging the politics at the root of the issue.”
Interviewed by Gabrielle Procter
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