Over 76 Million Gbp From The British Public

BLAIR PLEDGES HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS

Wednesday 5 January 2005 12:44pm

The Government's contribution to the relief effort for the victims of the Asian tsunami disaster will "more than match" the generosity of the British public, Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged.

On the day tens of millions of people across the UK and Europe were expected to observe a three-minute silence in remembrance of the victims, the premier said Britain would contribute "several hundred million pounds" to the aid operation.

The public has so far raised £76 million, but the final total is likely to exceed £100 million - double the £50 million currently promised by the Government.

But in his first comments since returning from his Christmas holiday break, Mr Blair said that once countries' needs had been assessed "my estimate is we will need to spend from Government several hundred million pounds - so we will more than match the generosity of the British people".

He added that he decided not to break his holiday to return to Downing Street because "I took the view that the important thing was to get the job done".

The three-minute silence will be held across Europe as a mark of respect to the thousands who lost their lives and the millions left homeless by the Boxing Day catastrophe in the Indian Ocean.

Flags on Government buildings and at Buckingham Palace will be flown at half-mast, while stock exchanges will stop trading and workers, shoppers and businesses will pause for reflection.

At least 139,000 people are now known to have died in the disaster, with United Nations estimates suggesting the final toll will exceed 150,000.

The confirmed British death toll stands at 41, but Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said earlier this week that 199 Britons were dead or "highly likely" to have perished.

The Prime Minister has faced criticism for not returning from his holiday earlier following the tsunami, but today he said he had been "intimately involved" in all the decisions taken by his Government since the giant wave struck.

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