With international development on the political agenda as never before, Glen Reynolds argues that this year Britain has an unparalleled opportunity to translate words of support for the Third World into action.

WE may see the best of British in 2005 - an influence upon the world which has never had such an impact since the Empire-building of the past. Its outcome could directly impact upon the Government's credibility and the way its rhetoric is perceived in the future. We may also discover whether the transatlantic "special relationship" amounts to anything meaningful, or whether the Bush administration has simply been pulling the lead of a British poodle.

What I refer to is the presidency by Britain of the world's leading industrial nations - the G8, as of January 1, 2005 and the additional responsibility mid-year of Britain's presidency of the European Union. Forget the end result, which is the "the war against terror", we have an opportunity in 2005 to win over the richest nations and especially that of the world's police force, the United States of America, in pursuing arguments as to the general lack of significant response from the developed world to the root causes and biggest threats to the future of the planet, namely climate change and the best friend of the terrorist, world poverty.

Chancellor Gordon Brown's recent statements that "we must use this opportunity and rise to the challenge of tackling world poverty", and "There is a common cause here, the coming together of people who feel, however distantly, the pain of others", both set out his stall - the theme behind Britain's presidency, that of tackling the problems that affect the developing world and by implication, will and do affect us.

Ignorance will be no excuse any more - the world's richest nations now know that there are more than 11 million orphans from HIV/AIDS alone, there are 110 million children who cannot attend school and 30,000 children dying every day as a result of illnesses that are curable in Britain and in the obesity prone, materialistically-based United States.

THE Bush administration, which basked in its isolation from the rest of the planet until 9/11, now has to wake up to these facts, not least because the devastation of Africa, for example, will impact upon their own economic self-interest.

I think we will notice a new momentum to these issues in the New Year. On January 1 there was the launch of Making Poverty History, an umbrella organisation of voluntary bodies. Mr Brown is due to visit what Tony Blair called a "scar on the conscience of humanity", Africa, later this month.

There can be little doubt that a key objective of Britain's G8 presidency will be to persuade the other nations to follow Britain's lead in cancelling 100 per cent of debt. The G8 can also influence institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank and the Africa Development Bank, to cancel what amounts to half the debt of the poorest nations to these bodies.

Brown has also said that he has a new initiative, that of an international finance facility that will assist the poorest nations in developing their infrastructures. Additionally, Britain seeks to promote ways of encouraging trade with the developing world. One of the most illustrative statements from Brown recently was that "Aid as compensation, as if we're just paying people for the problems of the past, is not the answer. But aid as investment is an altogether different matter. Increased aid can develop capacity for trade, increase the number of vaccinations, and increase schools and teachers. This is value for money." This is undoubtedly the language that the Bush administration will understand, for it is based upon self and national interest.

OBVIOUSLY, the major hurdle to any progressive measures may be the United States, the nation that pollutes the planet more than any other and the nation that is deeply protective of the lobbying message of its oil industries.

Climate change as an issue seems to be not the highest item on the agenda for the new president of the G8 and any success in persuading the United States to remove its head from the sand over climate change and to adopt international treaty obligations, would amount to a huge breakthrough in the "special relationship". For too long (and at least over the last seven years), the British Government has emphasised the deep significance of climate change as an issue (and has met its international obligations) yet has failed to persuade others, or to have grasped the nettle that is the taxation of international jet fuel. On climate change, the charge of a lack of meaningful influence over the Bush administration can arguably be best made. Through the G8 and the European Union, this must surely be an issue where the United States must be seen to act for the benefit of the planet and not adopt blinkered politics, which will lead to the environmental equivalent of the attacks upon the World Trade Centre.

Perhaps (devoid of any manifesto and campaign strategy workload) and with a little more time on his hands, whilst the Chancellor has been spending more time with the issues surrounding the developing world, (and making more speeches on the subject than ever before), the issues and answers surrounding international development are capable of being transferred to Britain at a local level.

The crucial recognition of the opportunities for early childhood development through SureStart and the establishment of Children's Forums this year, that will look at how childcare may develop in the future, are just a couple of Government issues that are looking at human development from the outset. Child poverty, at home and abroad, is a major campaigning issue for the future and dialogue in Britain and throughout the G8 talks, is what Britain's presidency will seek to establish.

Both the Chancellor and the Prime Minister have made and will continue to make clear, that the future of Africa is at the heart of eradicating world poverty. The presidency of the European Union in June will no doubt seek to emphasise the role of Europe in tackling the problems in Africa and the proactive, collective European stance being taken in places such as the Sudan is illustrative of this point. The European Union will be one of the key agencies in promoting international trade with the poorest nations, and the British Government will be very keen to establish itself as pro-European and internationalist.

AS Gordon Brown has stated: "From the campaign to abolish the slave trade to debt relief, there is a strand in the British people's view of the world that wants to stand up for certain values. We are open to the world."

This year, probably an election year, will perhaps see international issues, including world poverty and environmental issues sitting alongside local issues in the election campaigning literature. It is a time when Britain can truly take a leading role in pioneering reform that will impact upon all those born and to be born in the 21st century. The level of success of the above issues will, I think, dictate attitudes and responses to our own domestic agenda and our relationship to the United States for years and generations to come. It is a time when we can prove to the world that we are not a poodle but a nation of bold British lions.

* Glen Reynolds is a Labour councillor in Darlington and has been chosen to fight the Berwick seat for Labour at the next general election.