Call for pounds 1bn pledge.

A petition calling on the Government to pledge pounds 1bn a year to fight Aids across the world has been handed in.

Campaigners from Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), the National Union of Students and the Unison public service union made the plea to Chancellor Gordon Brown.

He said later there was an urgent need to tackle the "threat to global security" from the growing problem of Aids, which kills 8,000 people every day.

An ACTSA spokesman said: "With horse-trading around the Government Spending Review coming to a head soon, we fear the coffers of the International Development Department will be raided."