THE CULT OF PERSONALITY GATHERS PACE

We've not even got the final G8 communique yet (they're debating if they can expalin away dumping of CO₂ in Africa as a form of aid, we guess) and already the race to be the first to nominate Geldof for the Nobel Peace Prize has been won, with Jan Simonsen, a Norwegian MP, suggesting it should be Bob:

"Bob Geldof took the initiative in July 2005 to arrange a string of rock concerts to focus on the problems of poor nations, and pressure the world's leading politicians to take actions in fighting poverty."

Hmmm. How about, rather than focusing on one man, nominating all the people who contributed to the much longer Make Poverty History campaign - after all, it's the five billion, or two, or hundred thousand or whatever who were making the demands, wasn't it? Even before Live 8, this was a mass movement - indeed, before Live 8, it was a much more organic campaign without one messianic figure pushing their way to the front.

We're sure Bob would agree, although we're not sure what a Nobel would mean for what he could charge for his after-dinner speaking then. Just imagine...

There's an interesting part in the Scotsman report, too:

Geldof's attempts to return Africa to the top of the political agenda began last year, when he persuaded a host of pop stars to record a new version of Do They Know It's Christmas?. The single, which was released to mark the 20th anniversary of the Band Aid recording, went straight to No1 in the charts, with the proceeds going towards famine relief.

Apparently history is starting to change - at the time we could have sworn that it was Midge Ure who did all the persuasion; didn't Bob's involvement add up to little more than wishing the project luck and then swanning in at the last minute to pull off the 'here's an African I spared earlier' stunt?

music nobel prize bob geldof live 8 live8