Archived press release

"Businessmen" call for corporate irresponsibility to become law

6 June 2006

Suited businessmen today (Tuesday 6 June) called on Parliament to protect their interests and make sure new laws going through the House of Commons today allow businesses to continue to violate human rights and damage the environment. The businessmen, wearing bowler hats and carrying placards demanding "Down with rules for business" and "Profits not people", asked the Government to ensure that current corporate irresponsibility is protected under the new law.

The demonstration, organised by the Corporate Responsibility (CORE) and Trade Justice Movement campaigns [1] comes as the Company Law Reform Bill has its second reading in the House of Commons.

Campaigners say that unless the current bill is amended, it will do little to prevent on-going abuses of the rights of local people and the environment by UK companies. The groups point to examples such as the damage caused by Shell in Nigeria, Sakhalin and the US, as well as Tesco's treatment of workers in South Africa.

Deborah Doane, Chair of the Corporate Responsibility campaign, said:

"MPs have a great opportunity to shift the emphasis of company law to ensure that the role played by business meets the broader needs of society. But as the law stands, it will not do that, and in the long-run we will all pay the price. Business should not be afraid to put environmental protection and human rights at the heart of their operations - and MPs should not hesitate in asking them to do that. Optional good practice is no longer acceptable - we need ethical principles enshrined in company law."

Campaigners are calling on MPs to back amendments to the Bill to make companies report on environmental and social impacts, to strengthen directors' duties to minimise harmful impacts and to give communities overseas the right to seek redress through the UK courts [2].

More than 100,000 supporters of the CORE Coalition and the Trade Justice Movement have already written to their MPs, urging them to call on the responsible minister to amend the Company Law Reform Bill to make company directors legally responsible for the impacts of their businesses on people and the environment.

A poll carried out for ICM earlier this year found that nine out of ten people in Britain wanted the Government to bring in enforceable rules to ensure businesses minimise any harm from their operations, especially to poor communities and the environment [3].

Notes

[1] CORE (www.corporate-responsibility.org) and the Trade Justice Movement (www.tjm.org.uk) are coalitions of development NGOs, environmental organisations, faith groups and trade unions that together represent over 9 million supporters.

[2] For more information on the Corporate Responsibility campaign demands see
www.corporate-responsibility.org

[3] ICM interviewed a random sample of 1001 adults aged 18+, by telephone between 24 and 26 March 2006. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information at
www.icmresearch.co.uk.

Company Law Key to Tackling Poverty, Groups Tell Blair

Image © Marcus Rose/Insight Visual

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