Scottish archbishop leads faith leaders’ call for G8 to tackle hunger

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow has called for Prime Minister David Cameron to tackle hunger in the developing world in this week’s G8 summit.

The president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland (above), along with faith leaders in the country—including the Right Reverend Lorna Hood, Moderator of the Church of Scotland—wrote an open letter calling on Mr Cameron to the G8 leaders to sign agreements tackling tax avoidance and land grabs in the developing world.

“Billions of pounds flow out of developing countries through tax avoidance, and around the world the poorest are losing their land to corporations, leaving families unable to feed their children,” the letter states.

“The G8 can make a huge contribution to global efforts to end these scandals by working in partnership with others to increase investment and improve the transparency, accountability and governance of key aspects of the food system.”

The G8 are the eight most industrialised countries in the world and their heads of state, including US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are attending this week’s annual summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

Mr Cameron is presiding over this year’s summit and is expected to ask G8 leaders to sign up to new deals aiming to end hunger and inequality in the developing world.

The UK government is already committed to increasing international aid to 0.7 per cent of the country’s national income and recently overseen an agreement by its Overseas Territories and Crown dependencies to sign up to a tax evasion clampdown.

The Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF), an agency of the Bishops’ Conefernce of Scotland, has been a leading voice in the Enough Food for Everyone IF camapaign ahead of the G8 summit.