G8 Summit

G8 Summit
G8 SUMMIT 2005 - PUBLIC MEETING IN READING: The G8 Summit comes to Britain in 2005
- but what on earth does that have to do with us? Public Meeting Saturday 30th October, 8.00pm Reading International Solidarity Centre 35-39 London Street, Reading Town Centre. Opposite the Central Club (the one with the Black History Mural) and close to the cinema end of Oracle Shopping Centre.
In July 2005, the G8 summit will be held at the plush golfing resort of Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland. We would like to invite anyone who is interested in learning about and discussing the summit, the implications of the G8 policies and the response of the world's social movements to a public meeting, organised by local Reading based activists in conjunction with 'Trapese -The Educate The G8 Collective'. The G8 (Group of Eight) is made up of the USA, UK, Italy, France, Japan, Germany, Canada and Russia i.e. the richest and most powerful nations on Earth. At their annual summit they devise policies which in turn instruct the worlds global institutions such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank. The actions of this 'global government' are completely unaccountable to the billions of people they affect. The policies they push for are at once closing our hospitals, polluting our air and water, privatising our services etc. whilst causing global climate change, fueling wars and creating unprecedented global poverty. When the G7 (before Russia joined) held their summit in London in 1990, it passed by quietly. There was no resistance. By the time they came back as the G8 to Birmingham in 1998, they were faced with a 'Global Day-of Action' including a 70,000 strong human chain around the summit and many other actions worldwide. Since then, no global economic/political summit has passed by unopposed. Diverse 'swarms' of protesters have shut down summits in Prague, Seattle and Cancun. As the G8 prepare to hold their 2005 summit in Scotland, the worlds social movements are preparing too. Charities and NGO's are mobilising to march under the banner of 'Make Poverty History'. In the UK the 'Dissent!' network has been set up to facilitate the convergance of thousands of diverse campaigns ranging from local issues to climate change, campaigns which all find the hand of big-business and big-politics at the root of their problems. The People Global Action European Conference has issued a call out for a 'Day-of-Action' on Wednesday 6th July 2005, the opening day of the summit, and for local actions to take place in villages, towns and cities worldwide. Some are planning on working together with groups based around Gleneagles, creating and developing social and ecological initiatives in the area; all wish to demonstrate their resistance to the G8. Plans are afoot! To find out more about how the G8 affects us, please come along to the public workshop at Reading International Solidarity Centre, London Street on Saturday 30th 0ctober. If we co-operate and co-ordinate now we can start building other worlds. It has never been so vital or so possible. For more info please email: reading-anti-g8@cyber-rights.net