UK Breaking News: “White Cliffs of Dover: sold.” “Angel of the North: sold.”

Ian Sullivan

Blog post by Ian Sullivan

Oxfam Great Britain, Online Campaigner
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Imagine if you did wake up one day to ‘Sold’ signs over the White Cliffs of Dover and the Houses of Parliament. These are prominent landmarks in the United Kingdom and selling off these national treasures would be a scandal. Now imagine if it was your house, your local school or your community that was under threat. This might not happen in the UK but for too many people in poor countries, this nightmare is not something that they can wake up from.

Every second, in poor countries deals are done on an area of land the size of a football pitch. This weekend, people are ‘selling off’ their favourite landmarks and villages across the UK, to draw attention to this shocking situation. Land is vitally important to communities in developing countries. Land grabs are often caused by big land deals in poor countries - forcing families and whole communities from their land, unfairly evicting them from their homes and leaving them with no way to grow food or earn a living.

So back in October, Oxfam launched a campaign targeting the World Bank. The Bank funds many large land deals and has a strong influence on how land is bought and sold around the world. This means it has the power to help stop land grabs.How you can help

Thousands of you have already asked the World Bank to freeze its investments in land while it sets a fair standard for others to follow - but we're still waiting for them to act. That’s why we’re cranking up the pressure, grabbing some famous land marks and calling on them to take action now. 

If you’re in the UK you can take action by conatcting your MP to stop land grabs