Trade justice in 2006 – time for delivery

After a momentous year of campaigning in 2005, it is important that we keep up the pressure on MPs to take action in support of our demands. This will help persuade the Government change its policies and deliver on its trade justice rhetoric.

Two thirds of international trade is carried out by multinational corporations. All too often, multinational corporations that trade around the world cause harm to communities, damage the environment and violate the rights of working people. We need new laws to ensure UK companies act as a positive force and are held accountable for their impact on workers, communities and the environment, not only in the UK but also overseas. We have a unique opportunity to do this with the Company Law Reform Bill.

We are asking for amendments to the bill so that:

• Companies are legally required to report on their social and environmental impacts.
• Directors are legally obliged to minimise any damage their company does to local communities and the environment.
• People overseas who are harmed by the activities of a UK company are able to take action against them in a UK court.

MPs are especially important to our campaigning work, as the Company Law Reform Bill is passing through Parliament. It is the biggest shake up of Company Law for 150 years and an opportunity for us to make laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the environment.

Please ask your MP to do the following:

1)   Sign Early Day Motion number 697 ‘Modernising Company Law’ in support of our demands. Check here to see if your MP has already signed.

2)   Write a letter supporting our demands to Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MBE MP, Minister for Trade, who is responsible for the bill.

Many Government officials say that when Ministers get letters from lots of MPs on an issue, it forces them to take action.

3)   Support the specific amendments to the bill when it has its third reading in the House of Commons this autumn.

As a campaigner, your best weapon in convincing your MP to take action is your passion for the issue and any local or personal stories you have demonstrating levels of support and commitment to trade justice in your constituency.  

Since the first draft of the Bill was published at the end of 2005, over 100,000 UK voters have contacted their MPs calling for the Bill to be amended to make UK companies more accountable for the impacts of  their operations around the world.

Together we have already had a big impact and secured some important improvements to the Bill. Yet there is still a long way to go to make UK business both profitable, ethical and sustainable; truly fit for  the 21st century. We have a last chance to improve the Bill as MPs vote on our proposed amendments in late October, but we can only do it with your help.

To find out who your MP is, go to www.locata.co.uk/commons or ring the House of Commons information line . To talk to your MP’s office, ring the same number, or you can write to them via House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

• To email your MP about this issue, click here
• To find out more about the Trade Justice Movement’s campaign on righting corporate wrongs, .
• To download our briefing on trade justice and the Company Law Reform Bill .