The Prime Minister at St Paul's

I was invited to look after the media at St Paul's cathedral today for a visit prior to the G20 summit.

Here is my report:


Prime Minister Gordon Brown today conceded that the unsupervised globalisation of the financial markets crossed moral as well as national boundaries. Speaking at St Paul’s Cathedral for a pre-G20 debate organised by the St Paul’s Institute, Mr. Brown insisted that “we must (now) reshape our global economic system so that it represents the values we celebrate in our everyday lives.” The debate was chaired by the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres. The Prime Minister was joined on the platform by the Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd. Entitled My Word is my bond? Rebuilding Trust – the G20 and beyond the dialogue offered some clear theological reflection on the current global economic crisis. Members of the public were invited to attend the debate and over 2000 people filled St Paul’s Cathedral. Representatives from many City institutions, charities, universities, colleges and schools were joined by clergy and members of the public. Questions from the audience were put to the panel.
This event was the first in the St Paul's Institute 2009 major programme, Money, Integrity and Wellbeing, which will continue in the autumn with further public debates, services and study days. The British Prime Minister identified four global challenges affecting this generation: “financial instability in a world of global capital flows, environmental degradation in a world of changing energy need, violent extremism in a world of mass communications and increased mobility, and extreme poverty in a world of growing inequalities.” Mr. Brown said that any response could take advantage of shared values and morals: “Now that people can communicate instantaneously across borders, cultures and faiths, I believe we can be confident that across the world we are discovering that there is a shared moral sense. It is a sense strong enough to ensure a constant replenishment of that well of values on which we depend and which must infuse our shared rules.” He called for a change in attitudes and approach: “The certainty is that there is always an alternative to fear of the future; and what conquers fear of the future is faith in the future. On the question of the future of Banking, Mr. Brown said that bankers should act as ethically at work as they do at home: “In our families, we raise our children to work hard and to do their best. We don’t reward them for taking risks that would put them or others in danger. We don’t encourage them to seek short-term gratification at the expense of long-term value.” The Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd said that sometime last September “something cracked” and the reverberations of that economic collapse continue today. The consequences had been palpable and painful in virtually every country in the world. The effects were simultaneously local and global. “The challenge for all governments is to rebuild an economic system in which all can have trust. It means understanding what has gone wrong as well as reaffirming what is still good about our systems. In other words, getting the balance right. “The time has come to restore the balance,” Mr. Rudd told his audience. “There is nothing ennobling about poverty.” Mr. Rudd said that governments had to be active and that it was time for governments to balance individual humanity and the common good. This he said would assist in the “building up of economic trust”. Questions from the audience were then put to the two Prime Ministers and Bishop Chartres chaired the session. Government help to charities, putting money into the banking system, climate change and how to build a moral consensus were amongst the questions put to the panel.Others included the role of children and schools and combating poverty within the global meltdown. A collection was taken at the event for the microfinance charity Five Talents, which provides small loans and business training for the active poor in 10 developing countries. --ends— For more information please contact Hannah Talbot, Press & Communications Officer, St Paul’s Cathedral on 0207 246 8321 or email hannah@stpaulscathedral.org.uk Notes to editors: St Paul’s InstituteSt Paul’s institute is the Cathedral’s forum for contemporary ethics and recaptures the cathedral’s ancient role as a centre of education and public debate. This event is the first in the St Paul’s Institute 2009 major programme, Money, Integrity and Wellbeing, which will continue in the autumn with further public debates, services and study days.Confirmed future speakers include Baroness Julia Neuberger, Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State Douglas Alexander MP, Lord Griffiths and Canon Nicholas Sagovsky. St Paul’s Cathedral St Paul’s is the cathedral church of the diocese of London, which it has served for over 1,400 years. The current building has become a potent symbol of the life of a nation and is also one of the world’s most beautiful buildings. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the late seventeenth century, its stones have absorbed the hopes, fears, sorrows and joys of generations and stand as an enduring symbol of our communion with those gone before and those still to come. Each year nearly two million people flock to the Cathedral for services, concerts, debates, educational events, performing arts and sightseeing. All are most welcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------------St Paul's Cathedral. NOTICE & DISCLAIMERThis email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please return it to the sender, delete the email and destroy any copies of it. The information contained in this email are the views of the author and may not necessarily reflect those of the St Paul's Cathedral.------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reply Forward
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