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NEWSLETTER February 2007 Website: www.wtj.org.uk (****Before you read this newsletter turn to page 4****) FROM BAD TO WORSE Your editor has deferred preparing the publication of the newsletter in the hope that something might happen which could give us hope for 2007. We could neither bid farewell to 2006 nor greet the new year with any sense that the tide is about to turn for people who live in poor countries.
BUT------------------------------------------------------------- We in Wirral Trade Justice are part of a movement whose voice will not be stilled. If things are looking hopeless, that’s when we can rely on the strength of our collective voice to maintain our optimism and press for the changes that must surely be made sooner or later;
AND-----------STOP PRESS!!!!!!!!----------------- Against all the odds and against all expectations today’s (27 January) news is that the discussions at Davos may lead to a restart of the stalled global trade talks – the Doha Round. So maybe all is not lost. Keep the pressure on. See below about the demonstration in London in April.
A G M – 15 OCTOBER 2006 John Battle, MP, addressed our Annual General Meeting last October and spoke with remarkable enthusiasm and commitment about what can be done and what we have an obligation to do – even when we are inclined to get a bit pessimistic. A report on Mr Battle’s speech has been written by Kath Stephenson and you can read it on the website. As Kath reports: ‘We came away inspired to work harder to keep up the pressure for change.’
DOES CAMPAIGNING WORK? The following notes are taken from reports on Christian Aid’s website which is a comprehensive and reliable source of all kinds of information about trade justice. These are the three main achievements of the programme of campaigning in 2006.
Economic Partnership Agreements The British government has responded to an avalanche of protests from campaigners and has been forced to take a much more sensitive stance on the whole question of these bilateral agreements on the opening up of markets. The European Union is in turn being forced by official British pressure and the protests of their own peoples to try to reach a more generous settlement. Since this seems to be the most important issue of trade justice facing the world at present, we’ve given a lengthy summary of the issues on page 3 of this newsletter. Please try to get up to speed on this and if you find you are interested enough to take it further, the websites of the main organisations have very full explanations of what is at stake. Go from the WTJ website to the Trade Justice Movement link, for a guide to all the articles.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank The IMF and World Bank are at the forefront of forcing poor countries to accept free trade policies as conditions on loans and debt relief. And the UK government plays an influential role in both. We called on the UK government to withhold its funding to the two institutions until reforms took place which will bring an end to the conditions placed on poor countries. And at the end of a summer of action that saw more than 10,000 people drumming at events and festivals, 25,000 people sign a petition and thousands marching to the Treasury all calling for money to be withheld, Hilary Benn announced he was keeping back £50million that had been earmarked for the World Bank. The money has recently been given to the Bank but only after it had been forced to show how it was reducing its conditions. Companies Act There has been a sustained campaign, lobbying MPs while this bill was going through parliament. It was considerably strengthened to include additional responsibilities for international companies. Directors of UK companies can now be sued in UK courts for their actions in foreign countries. They now have a duty not only to maximise profits but also to consider the impacts of their business operations on the community and the environment. This is the first time that such responsibilities have been written in UK company law. Probably no other country in the world demands in law this kind of responsibility from company directors. “I
had more letters from constituents about trade justice and the
Companies Bill than any other issue since I became an MP.” The Financial Times reported that “business had been comprehensively outmanoeuvred by environmental and corporate responsibility campaigners, in a stunning lobbying victory.”
So campaigning does work – keep it up!
MASS ACTION EVENT - LONDON 19 APRIL 2007 The Trade Justice Movement will be staging a mass action event on 19 April 2007 as part of a simultaneous action across Europe to stop the EU pushing unfair trade deals on the poorest countries in the world. This is to maintain the pressure on world leaders to find ways out of the collapse of the Doha round. The details have not been finalised yet, but Wirral Trade Justice will hope to have a significant presence on that day in Whitehall or Trafalgar Square or wherever it may be. Join us for a Spring day out in London – probably by early train, returning when you feel like it. Watch our website (and the link there to the Trade Justice Movement) for later information and if you think you may like to go, register your interest with Alan Vernon – tel : 0151-342-3398.
ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS The European Union (EU) is currently negotiating trade deals with 77 poor countries. The EU Commission leading the negotiations is using these deals to try to open up the markets of poor countries, forcing them to accept free trade. Campaigners have been calling on the UK government to push the EU for alternatives to these deals. And it seems to have worked. The UK government is now openly at odds with the Commission about the progress of these deals. There are some signs that diplomatic pressure from the UK is beginning to get a response not just from EU countries but even from George Bush. It is reported that as part of a new deal to resurrect the Doha Round, the US may cut its farm subsidies by 20%.
This summary is from the Trade Justice Movement website: ‘Introducing the campaign Last year, in response to your calls to make poverty history, the UK Government promised to make trade work for the poor. However, together with other European countries, the UK is part of a push to have some of the poorest nations on the planet sign up to grossly unfair trade deals. The deals are called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and we have to act fast. The lives of 750 million of the world's poorest people are in the balance as poor farmers and vulnerable producers will be forced into direct competition with rich nations. We must stop these unfair trade deals before Africa and poor countries worldwide are forced to trade away their future. The Trade Justice Movement is gearing up its campaigning on EPAs and calling on the UK Government to use its full influence to stop these deals going ahead, to listen to the serious concerns of poor countries and work with those countries to develop new deals that will help deliver trade justice. Get involved by taking action and finding out more. Be part of the growing campaign across Europe and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries affected by these unfair trade deals. Take Action Email Alistair Darling, the UK Secretary of State for Trade
and Industry Email Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International
Development FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT 26 Feb - 11 March 2007 The theme is 'Change Today, Choose Fairtrade'. With over 2000 Fairtrade certified products now available, it’s easier than ever to change what we eat, drink and wear to Fairtrade, and make a positive change today for farmers in developing countries and the millions who depend on them. Can you try to find some way of taking part in this Fairtrade Fortnight 26 Feb - 11 March 2007, even if it’s only to say a word of encouragement to those who will be running stalls at supermarkets and churches?
WIRRAL TRADE JUSTICE
FUN WE DON’T WANT YOUR MONEY. WE WANT YOU!
MUSICAL EVENING and QUIZ NIGHT 7.30pm on FRIDAY 23 March 2007 ST. STEPHEN’S CHURCH HALL Prenton Lane, CH42 8LB
NICK HARDY & ALAN DERRICK (tenor) (pianoforte)
Professional opera singer and founder of The Liverpool Italian Opera Co. Nick Hardy, accompanied by leading jazz pianist Alan Derrick, will present a programme of popular operatic arias and Songs from the Shows before, after and in between two entertaining and mind-stretching quiz competitions
compèred by
GRAHAM LOACH
Get together your team of about six (£5 per head, including pizza supper and a glass of wine) and come and join us for an evening of fun and entertainment. Admission by ticket only. Limited availability, so book your ticket soon from Jill Loach on 0151 334 6077
Printed and published by Jack Heery, 10 Marlfield Lane, Wirral, CH61 1AJ. |
