Campaigner dons Osborne mask in pre-budget protest

Buy photos » Matthew Rickard with his George Osborne mask and budget briefcase at the Oxfam IF protest. (s)

AN OXFAM campaigner from Redditch was one of 500 protesters who donned George Osborne masks and suits to highlight the plight of those without enough to eat.

Matthew Rickard from Southcrest joined representatives from 120 organisations supporting the IF campaign outside Parliament yesterday (Tuesday) ahead of today's budget announcement.

The campaigners were calling on Chancellor George Osborne to commit to putting aside 0.7 per cent of the UK's GDP for aid.

The 25-year-old told the Standard: "It was a really great day and hopefully it will have created a bit of a scene and ensure we get a good result today in the budget.

"It is important that we as the UK and the UK Government play a role in ensuring everyone does have enough to eat, not only abroad but also in the UK. We are hoping to ensure there is enough food for everyone by tackling some of the root causes of food injustice."

The campaigner said as well as highlight the issue to the Chancellor, he hoped it had grabbed the attention of members of the public.

"Part of the idea was to make sure other people are aware of the issues people are facing and to get others feeling more passionate about it to keeping making that difference.

"The big thing we are running towards is the G8 summit in June when we will come together and hopefully see some really big changes at that level."

Visit www.enoughfoodif.org for more information about the campaign.

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