LONDON: Up to 20 million Britons are expected to protest against world poverty as part of the biggest mobilization against global inequality ever seen. In addition, 250,000 campaigners are planning to attend a rally in Edinburgh to coincide with July’s G8 summit at Gleneagles where key talks among world leaders could witness Tony Blair securing a historic deal to help Africa’s poor.

Oxfam on Saturday ordered five million more white ‘Make Poverty History’ wristbands. The charity has already sold three million. Adrian Lovett, a campaign spokesman, said: “At this rate we would expect between 10 million and 20 million will join the campaign.”

Meanwhile, the BBC is understood to have cleared its schedules on the same day as the Edinburgh march in anticipation of a huge global event. Although the show of public support will bolster Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s efforts to secure a breakthrough on debt, aid and trade, concern is mounting in Whitehall that the key measures are failing to win US support.

This week Blair will embark on a charm offensive with President Bush and European leaders. However, there are fears within government that progress on reaching international consensus on increasing aid and writing off poor countries’ debt is stalling.

Although officials maintain that plans to double international aid to around GBP60 billion a year and eradicate much of the debt of poor countries remain intact, privately they warn that agreement may not be reached during the talks.

Among attempts to build an international consensus, Blair will suggest to the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, that supporting Britain’s moves to tackle Africa’s problems will help Germany in its attempt to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

“A real commitment to Africa can only help them,” a Downing Street official said last night.

The government said that campaigners should wait until the end of 2005 before judging whether there has been any real progress on its international poverty agenda. A series of protest marches in Paris, New York and Berlin among others will culminate in the Edinburgh rally when tens of thousands will encircle Edinburgh to create a “human wristband”. —Dawn/The Observer News Service.