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UNICEF famous faces join campaigners to speak up for children at Rio

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UNICEF famous faces join campaigners calling on government to speak up for children at Rio

Ewan McGregor, Rio Ferdinand, Eddie Izzard, Keira Knightley & more get involved

Ewan McGregor, Keira Knightley, Rio Ferdinand, Eddie Izzard, Keeley Hawes, Simon Reeve and Martin Bell are just some of the high profile figures who have joined UNICEF UK’s campaign calling on the government to speak up for children at this week’s Rio Earth Summit.

* McGregor, Knightley, Izzard, Hawes and Bell all filmed video messages for UNICEF UK’s Speak Up campaign.
* On 7th June, broadcaster and UNICEF supporter Simon Reeve joined young UNICEF supporters at a Rio discussion event with environment minister, Caroline Spelman.
* On 12th June Rio Ferdinand tweeted a series of comedy twitpics under the hashtag #Rio4Rio, urging his 2.8 million followers to sign UNICEF UK’s Speak Up petition.
* On 13th June, young campaigners met with Nick Clegg in Whitehall and handed him a list of the thousands of signatories who have signed the petition so far.

Rio Ferdinand, a long term UNICEF supporter, caused a Twitter stir last Tuesday when he tweeted a cryptic twitpic which read “Everyone’s asking ‘What’s happening with Rio?’” alongside a picture of him looking quizzical. Only from his later tweets – which included an image of the footballer wearing a feathered carnival head dress – did it become clear that Ferdinand was tweeting to raise awareness of UNICEF UK’s Speak Up campaign to ensure children are at the heart of the Rio Earth Summit’s agenda.

UNICEF supporters Keira Knightley, Eddie Izzard, and Keeley Hawes joined UNICEF Ambassadors Ewan McGregor and Martin Bell in recording special video messages stating that they are “speaking up for children at the Rio Earth Summit.”

Rio Ferdinand said:

“Speaking as a Rio, I know life isn’t all carnivals, beaches and playing football. At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro global leaders will discuss the future of the planet and we want them to think about the world’s children. That’s why I’m speaking up for children with UNICEF UK and hope that everyone who follows me on Twitter will do the same.”

Simon Reeve said:

”We have to think more long-term and protect our planet for future generations. And so of course we have to get youngsters and children involved, and make them central to the debates and discussions that take place in Rio.”

Eddie Izzard said

“There is a massive opportunity for the UK government to put children at the heart of the Rio Earth summit. Children should be at the top of the summit agenda.”

Sign the Speak Up For Children petition at www.unicef.org.uk/speakup

David Cameron Sacks Green Envoy Zac Goldsmith in 'Petty and Vindictive' Move.

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It is rare to meet a politician with integrity, who keeps their word, and it seems Zac Goldsmith has paid the price for keeping to his.

Prime Minister David Cameron has been accused of being ‘petty and vindictive’ after the Tory MP for Richmond Park had a key Government job taken away from him after he defied him over the EU.

Goldsmith had previously been appointed by the Prime Minister as his personal Downing Street envoy in a bid to fight global warming. The offer was withdrawn a mere two days before Goldsmith’s first assignment, and a matter of hours after he voted in favour of a referendum on the EU.

Goldsmith was due to start work as the Prime Ministers ‘climate change and forest envoy’ last month. His first task was to meet with President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, where forests are at risk. The meeting that was to be held in London last month was publicly announced. Goldsmith was then barred from attending and the job offer was revoked.

The Richmond Park MP said last night: ‘I was always going to vote for the referendum motion, not least because I promised my constituents I would.

‘But the Government was very unwise to impose a three-line whip on Conservative MPs. It created  all sorts of problems for itself that could have been avoided.’

Goldsmith refused to comment on the job offer being revoked, but said: ‘Reversing the decline of forestry worldwide is one of the most important battles faced by our species.
‘I don’t need a formal government role to pursue that work.’

Two days earlier, he was among 81 Tory MPs who voted in favour of a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU and ignored Mr Cameron’s order to toe the line.

A Government source had this to say: ‘You cannot have someone rebelling against the Government one day and walking into a government job the next. Not when two ministerial aides resigned over the EU vote. But Zac is a great guy  and we hope we can revive this job offer in time.’

A fellow MP disagreed and told the Daily Mail: ‘It was petty and vindictive to cancel this post. Zac had every right to vote in favour of a referendum on Europe.

‘The Government constantly says it is giving top priority to efforts  to curb climate change and yet it is prepared to risk that to punish an MP for sticking to his principles on the EU. It is the kind of thing that brings politics into disrepute.’

Well-placed government sources said Goldsmith had spent months in talks with Government officials about the climate change and forest envoy role.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne and Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman had all given the go-ahead for his appointment

Read Frost’s interview with Zac Goldsmith