Make Poverty History

Nelson Mandela comes out of retirement to address the world from Trafalgar Square.

Two years since the work finished, I still cannot quite get over what a wonderful spot the pedestrianised Trafalgar Square has become. A space that was once basically a giant roundabout is now one of the most attractive in London, filled with children playing and people chatting, surrounded by some of the capital’s finest architecture.

It has also been returned to its historical role as the best spot in London for public meetings and it was a packed Square that turned out to greet Nelson Mandela when he came to speak last week. The normally cynical inhabitants of Central London turned out in force to see the final public speech in this country from the 85 year-old politician and revolutionary. I was a child when Mandela was released from prison, and not yet born when he first became the focus of the anti-Apartheid movement, but this was still an intensely emotional experience. Many of the people in the Square, especially the generation who had grown up fighting apartheid, were in tears as Mandela was helped up the steps of the National Gallery.

The absurd, meaningless choice of Julia Sarpong and Jamelia to introduce the great statesman only served to further emphasise the seriousness of the event. Facing the statue of his namesake, the British naval hero, over a crowd of thousands, Mandela spoke passionately, eloquently and intelligently about the need to end global poverty.

Londoners donated more money to the Tsunami appeal than the inhabitants of any city outside East Asia. The armbands that the 'Make Poverty History' campaign printed, sold out in days, and began to change hands on e-Bay for five times their original value.

On a cold February day in the middle of the week, more than 20,000 filed into the ancient meeting place at the heart of London from where the British people have always made their voices heard. We live in a city of great wealth, great passion and great energy. If London continues to get behind this campaign, if we can abandon our cynicism and remind ourselves how powerful we are, there is every possibility that we can help to change the world.

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