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Campaiging for trade that works for people and planet
Campaigning for trade that works for people and planet
Modern trade deals can affect everything from food standards to public services.
Since the Brexit referendum we’ve campaigned tirelessly for parliament and the public to have a say on trade deals and thousands of you supported
our demands. In early 2019 parliament amended the Trade Bill, introducing democratic processes to scrutinise trade policy. This was a huge step in the right direction, but scared of being defeated, the government later dropped the bill. We’re keeping up the pressure for a democratic process.
With the help of our supporters donating to our crowd funder we launched a legal challenge to the government over its failure to disclose details of
its post-Brexit trade meetings. Under pressure, the most the Department for International Trade was prepared to release was almost entirely blacked-out documents.
The papers, some of which were eventually leaked in unredacted form in the run up to the general election, made huge waves in the media and gave our campaign an unprecedented amount of exposure. Boris Johnson has made it clear that a trade deal with the US is a top priority. This would be a particularly high-risk deal. When US president Donald Trump announced visitsto the UK in June and December, activists got ready to join the protests. Dressed as chlorinated chickens we sent a strong message opposing the deal and ruffling feathers in the media. An incredible 70,000 people signed our petition to stop the deal. Part of our trade campaign involved working with trade campaigners across Europe to end ‘corporatecourts’, a parallel legal system written into trade and investment deals that allows big corporations to sue governments for millions. Across Europe over
900,000 peoplesigned petitions rejecting corporate courts and speaking out together.
As part of our work on corporate courts, we went on a solidarity trip to Amulsar in Armenia to meet local activists fighting against UK registered mining company Lydian. The mining company has been using the corporate court mechanism to bullyArmenia intoallowing its goldmine to operate and to forcefully remove protesters blockading the mine. Almost 6,000
supporters emailed Lydian International’s CEO asking for the company to drop their plans for a corporate court case against the Armenian government.
What next?
f Continue to mobilise the public
to oppose a US-UK trade deal.
f Raise awareness of the impact of
trade deals on the climate crisis.
