Geldof wants to recreate Dunkirk

Sir Bob Geldof wants British sailors to pick up French supporters. Picture / Reuters

LONDON - Sir Bob Geldof called yesterday for people to "recreate Dunkirk" by sailing across the Channel and picking up French supporters of his Live 8 event.

His comments came as millions texted the Live8 ticket lottery for the Hyde Park concert. His "Sail 8" initiative will encourage ferry companies and small boat owners to cross one of the world's busiest shipping lanes and transport people from the Continent to Britain.

Once on British soil, they would travel north to attend a mass rally planned in Edinburgh before the G8 summit at Gleneagles. Geldof said that he hoped coach operators would offer their services free of charge to help ferry the protesters north.

The cross-channel event is part of Sir Bob's "long walk to justice" plan for people to travel to Edinburgh after the July 2 Live 8 concerts, one of which is planned for Paris.

Organisers hope that more than a million supporters will attend the rally as part of the Make Poverty History campaign, calling on the G8 leaders to cancel debt repayments, free up trade and increase aid donations to the developing world.

Launching the event from a rowing boat in a Southampton marina, Sir Bob said: "What we are asking people to do is not recreate D-day but recreate Dunkirk, where normal people got in their boats to rescue our soldiers, 390,000 of them, who were surrounded and came back to fight another day."

- INDEPENDENT