Fair trade protest targets Labour

Protestors congregated along Brighton seafront during the rally

Thousands of people took part in a protest outside the Labour Party conference in Brighton to highlight inequality in world trade.

The Trade Justice Movement (TJM) organised Sunday's rally, which was a Latin American-style protest with pots, pans, whistles and drums.

The protest launches TJM's new campaign called Vote For Trade Justice.

Protesters were asked to cast a vote at giant ballot boxes on the beach in support of fairer international trade.

It's not about romanticizing and clinging to traditional industries, it's just about giving people a chance to earn a living Kwame Kwei-Armah, Casualty actor

Celebrities such as Casualty's Kwame Kwei-Armah and Time Team's Tony Robinson cast ballots alongside masses of campaigners.

Mr Kwei-Armah said he saw the "disastrous" impact imports from rich countries have on the lives of people in poor countries during a visit to Senegal last year.

"Before I went to Senegal I didn't really understand what Trade Justice meant," he said.

"Now I have seen that it is trying to make the difference between people eating and not eating, surviving and not surviving. "

"It's not about romanticizing and clinging to traditional industries, it's just about giving people a chance to earn a living."

The TJM is a coalition of aid agencies, environment and human rights campaigns, fair-trade organisations, trade unions and faith groups including the Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF).

"We hear first hand from our overseas partners about the effects of unfair trade rules," said Kevin Fray, the MRDF's supporter relations co-ordinator.

"When crops lose value because of changes in the international market, people lose their livelihoods. It's as simple as that.

"We must support our partners at a local level, but we must also encourage our government to change the rules that keep people in poverty".