Published 2005 (ISBN:1 902488 91 1) Price £9.95
This monograph is based on the CAFOD Pope Paul VI Memorial Lecture delivered by Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Wednesday 8th December 2004. In this landmark speech, the Chancellor makes an impassioned argument for international action to resolve the plight of the world’s poorest countries. The case for a renewed determination amongst the international community to tackle global poverty ranges from reasons based in the increasing interconnectedness of the world’s nations, to justifications rooted in ethical imperatives and the common moral sense. The Chancellor calls for a new ‘covenant’ between the richest and the poorest nations borne not only of ‘enlightened self-interest’ but of an appreciation of our shared humanity and the imperatives that flow from a common understanding of justice. By bringing the economic case for aid, trade and development together with the demands for global justice, the Chancellor makes a powerful call, not only for concerted effort on the part of the richest nations to engage with the worlds poorest, but also for a new politics where economic and political aims are underpinned by our mutual humanity and a common moral sense that can be shared by all. The pamphlet features an introduction by Cardinal Cormack Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, and an extended preface by Tony Pilch of the Smith Institute.