London, England - Tony Blair is to be told by Britain's religious leaders tomorrow that a failure to act against world poverty at the G8 summit next week will be to fail God.
In a rare joint letter, the leaders of the country's main faiths will challenge the Prime Minister and the other government heads attending G8 to fulfil their Millennium goals of halving poverty by 2015.
The initiative is being led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.
Other signatories include Free Church leaders, the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, and senior Muslims.
The move follows yesterday's announcement that Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor and his Scottish counterpart, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, will lead the march against poverty in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Admitting that he did not usually join protest rallies, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said he had made the decision "to his own surprise".
But he said that the event, which is linked to the Live8 concert, was a real chance to draw attention to Third World debt. He described the country's "moral awakening" about the issue as the greatest since the 18th-century campaign to end slavery. In an article in a Sunday newspaper, he condemned the agricultural subsidies that kept African goods out of European market places and called for huge investment in Africa.
On Saturday the most successful charity ball in British history raised £1.5 million for Africa. More than 600 guests attended the event which featured the chart-topping acts Travis and Tony Christie.
Organised by the Scottish businessman Sir Tom Hunter, the Live8 co-ordinators Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure and Richard Curtis, whose BBC drama Girl in the Cafe highlights world poverty, also attended. However, the bulk of the money raised was bequeathed in £40,000 donations by 14 businessmen.