Government will support Live 8
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has said that the Government is fully behind plans for a Live 8 concert.
Live 8 is the brainchild of Sir Bob Geldof who is once again gearing up for a series of major concerts to highlight global poverty.
Two decades after helping to organise one of the most memorable events in pop music history in the form of Live Aid, Sir Bob will call on both fellow rock veterans and some more contemporary acts for live gigs in London, Philadelphia, Rome, Paris and Berlin.
Live 8, as the event has been dubbed, is designed to coincide with the G8 meeting in Scotland next month, which Britain will chair.
Sting, Sir Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones will join the likes of Robbie Williams and Coldplay at the London concert,.
The musicians taking part hope to ensure that the heads of government from the world’s richest countries discuss issues like fair trade and third world debt.
“Once more into the breach. What started 20 years ago is coming to a political point in a few weeks,” Sir Bob declared.
“There is more than a chance that the boys and girls with guitars finally get to tilt the world on its axis.
“What we do in the next five weeks is seriously, properly, historically, politically important.”
The London event, which will take place on July 2 in Hyde Park, has received the full backing of Ms Jowell.
“The G8 summit in Edinburgh, which follows the concert, offers an opportunity for the world’s developed nations to really make a difference – to do something positive for the third world,” she said.
“Live8 will set the scene, and we are proud to be able to help make it happen.”
Ms Jowell added that she hoped it would be the “biggest and best open-air concert the capital has ever seen”.
The Government will ensure the site has a capacity of 150,000, provide services and facilities for the event and clean up the site after the concert.
