We had an excellent event on 16th May, meeting John Christensen and watching the film ‘The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire’. We were impressed by John’s amazing knowledge and by his commitment to closing the loopholes which allow the injustice of tax-havens to continue.
John pointed out that the film is available to hire on Vimeo https://vimeo.com for just £3.01 and it will be available free on U-Tube from August. You can see more information about the film at: www.togethertv.com/blog/spiders-web-tax-haven-heart-britain
7.30pm Wed 2nd May: ‘For richer, for poorer? Trade Justice after Brexit’ by Guy Taylor
Guy brought us up to date with the current situation. Our government is lining up new trade deals behind closed doors. Not even our members of parliament will be able to scrutinise them. There is particular concern that trade deals with India are likely to force India to accept tight intellectual property laws thereby making it too costly for them to continue replicating medicines at prices affordable to those who desperately need them around them world; there is fear that the US wants to privatise our NHS, and there is worry that talks are being held with regimes known for their human rights abuses. However more MPs are becoming aware of the situation and there is hope that amendments will be made to improve the Trade Bill.
7.30pm Wed 2nd May: ‘For richer, for poorer? Trade Justice after Brexit’ by Guy Taylor
Guy is an excellent speaker. He will be able to bring us up to date with the current situation and will tell us what actions we can take.
As we know, our government is lining up new trade deals behind closed doors. Not even our members of parliament will be able to scrutinise them. We are particularly concerned that trade deals with India are likely to force India to accept tight intellectual property laws thereby making it too costly for them to continue replicating medicines at prices affordable to those who desperately need them around them world, with the US are likely to allow Trump to get his hands on our NHS, and talks are being held with regimes known for their humans rights abuses.
at 7.30 pm
Look at the following links:
1.) ‘7 reasons why we should have open borders’ by Aisha Dodwell
https://newint.org/blog/2017/11/29/why-open-borders
2.) ‘The Surprisingly Compelling Argument for Open Borders’ by Rutger Bregman http://fortune.com/2016/04/17/immigration-open-borders
Five members of Global Justice Reading joined others from around the UK in London yesterday to raise awareness about the Trade Bill currently going through parliament. The Bill currently gives MPs no power to scrutinise, guide, amend or stop trade deals being signed, and fails to mandate public information, consultation or impact assessments.
We started with a tour round the finance City of London, with many stops to hear specialist and inspiring speakers. At an Art Gallery in the evening, we were informed by Caroline Lucas MP, Barry Gardiner MP, Cecile from Brussels, and Guy from Global Justice Now of the background and current state of the Bill, about to go to the House of Lords. After a demo outside the Department of International Trade, we met with Matt rodda, MP for Reading East, and John Hilary, Trade Adviser for The Labour party, for a very productive meeting on making positive progress on the Trade Bill.
Overall, a very successful and uplifting two days.
