Rushanara Ali MP, Shadow International Development Minister and Chair of the Save Remittance Giving Campaign, has welcomed Olympic champion Mo Farah’s latest plea to Barclays not to close the bank accounts it offers small and medium sized money transfer companies. The Save Remittance Giving Campaign’s petition, which Rushanara Ali delivered to 10 Downing Street last month, now stands at 122,661 signatories, all of whom have called on Barclays and the government to reconsider. With this number of backers, and with only days left until the bank accounts close, Mo Farah has again called on both Barclays and the UK government to reconsider the decision.

In a press release, Mo Farah said: “Around 40 per cent of people in Somalia depend on remittances to buy basics like food, medicine and other essentials. Cutting this lifeline will be a disaster... This will impact all the major aid organisations operating in the region, including my Foundation.”

Rushanara Ali MP said: “When I set up the Save Remittance Giving Campaign, I organised 46 Labour MPs to write to Barclays to reconsider and the government and regulators to find a solution that provides legitimate and affordable ways of getting remittances into developing countries. We delivered a petition of 25,000 to 10 Downing Street calling on the Prime Minister to take action, but the Government has been extremely slow to respond."

"I welcome Mo Farah's continued support for the Save Remittance Giving Campaign and his latest intervention. The government will meet to discuss this danger to remittance giving soon, but probably not in time to introduce meaningful action before bank accounts are scheduled to close. Too many people in the developing world are dependent on this lifeline, and too many people in Britain have close family and elderly relatives they are trying to help, to let this decision stand.”

Mo Farah's press statement can be found here.