Rt Hon Tony Blair MP

No. 10 Downing Street

London

SW1A 2AA

16 March 2005

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to urge you to oppose the nomination of Paul Wolfowitz for President of the World Bank. Mr. Wolfowitz’s time as Deputy Secretary of Defence has revealed a foreign policy agenda which is anathema to the needs of an institution which must act as voice for the aspirations of all developing countries.

The selection of Paul Wolfowitz has laid bare the hypocrisy of a selection process which is neither transparent nor merit-based, as employed by an institution which portends to advocate good governance. The closed-door appointment flies in the face of the recommendations of the Africa Commission, the British Government’s 2000 White Paper on globalization, and innumerable analyses on this issue.

We urgently look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Jeff Powell, Coordinator, Bretton Woods Project

Also on behalf of:

Richard Miller, Director, ActionAid UK

Richard Bennett, General Secretary, BOND

Louise Richards, Chief Executive, War on Want

Charles Abugre, Head of Policy, Christian Aid

Stewart Wallis, Director, New Economics Foundation

Simon Burall, Executive Director, One World Trust

Nick Sigler, Head of International Relations, UNISON

Peter Hardstaff, Head of Policy, World Development Movement

Hannah Ellis, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Ros Davies, CEO, Interact Worldwide

Henry Northover, Policy Analyst, CAFOD

Graham Bennett, Director, One World Action

cc.

Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State International Development

Gordon Brown MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Tony Baldry MP, Chair, Development Select Committee, House of Commons

Alex Evans, Advisor to the Secretary of State, DFID

Gavin McGillivray, Head IFID

Tom Scholar, UK Executive Director