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The demonstration of protestors in favour of a third runway at Heathrow was gate-crashed last night by activist group Plane Stupid, pretending to be from the Revolutionary Communist Party.
At least 15 people from Plane Stupid, the group that protested on the roof of Parliament last year, infiltrated the demonstration held by Modern Movement by feigning an affiliation with the pro-aviation group, which they claim are linked to the now defunct Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP).
Holding up a protest banner declaring “99 per cent of Scientists could be wrong” Plane Stupid activist Richard George pretended to support the Modern Movement by saying that climate change should not stop the building of a third runway at Heathrow because “evidenced based thinking is overrated.”
Plane Stupid activists were told by the Metropolitan Police that they were not allowed to protest with the Modern Movement since they had not been registered. “Maybe we can’t protest because we’re Marxists,” said Plane Stupid campaigner Ruth Pircey.
Supporter of the Modern Movement Angus Kennedy said: “I’m absolutely in favour of them [Plane Stupid] coming and joining in. Let them do what they want.”
The majority of Modern Movement members work at the Institute of Ideas, which is directed by former RCP member Claire Fox, a Marxist libertarian who says global warming is not caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
Modern Movement activist and web editor for the Institute of Ideas Alex Hochuli denied the allegations made by Plane Stupid, saying “I don’t have any affiliation with the Revolutionary Communist Party.”
Less than 50 people participated in the counter-demonstration, many of them from Plane Stupid, while at least 150 people protested at Downing street against the Government decision to allow a third runway at Heathrow. Construction on the £9bn runway is set to begin between 2015 and 2020.
Modern Movement demonstration
Posted February 20, 2009 at 6:17 am. Add a comment
Everyday we are bombarded by flashy headlines from newspapers and distressing images on our TVs telling us to beware the looming danger of climate change. We are told that Armageddon is on the way as the polar ice caps melt and the Amazon is hacked away by loggers at light speed.
Yet despite the paternal voices from above admonishing us to recycle and turn off our lights before we go to bed, what kind of example are we being given to cut our carbon emissions?
The government has conceded to allowing a third runway at Heathrow, and suddenly cutting carbon emissions has taken a backseat to ‘the need to boost the British economy’. Those in the pro-expansion camp say that a third runway, set for 2020, will create jobs and encourage a boom in business as more people have access to London.
The problem is, does it count if they never leave the airport? Statistically most flyers use Heathrow as a point of transit before they reach their destination, so it’s hard to see how the domestic economy will receive this great financial injection.
It’s true that there is likely to be more jobs, but perhaps we should also consider the people who will lose their homes to the great bull dozing fuelled by this job creation. Or how about the vast quantity of noise and air pollution these people will be exposed to. Research done by the London Harlington monitoring stations in February last year shows that air quality around Heathrow is already far below UK National Air Quality Standards.
Perhaps Mr. Brown might not have thought these points through, an easy mistake when you fail to consult MP’s or the two million residents that oppose the plan. But apparently this isn’t necessary in the UK version of democracy.
Posted February 20, 2009 at 6:15 am. Add a comment
Stepping off the demolished London train carriage after the 7/7 bombings, saturated in the blood of fellow passengers, Caroline Gifford was shocked to find not an ambulance or police officer awaiting her at the platform but the flashbulb of a camera.
Four years on Ms. Gifford is keen to move on from the tragedy that took the lives of 56 people, but she suffers from a common side effect of surviving a disaster: the persistence of the press.
After being rushed to the hospital, Ms. Gifford noticed another survivor standing outside, shaking uncontrollably. The woman was surrounded by journalists awkwardly prying for information, and out of empathy Ms. Gifford told the reporters: “Speak to me instead.” It was then that she decided to speak on behalf of the 7/7 victims, forming the group Kings Cross United to provide support for survivors and relay their stories to the media.
“As an advertising director for a media company I felt prepared for the role,” she explains, having often dealt with the press through her job.
Nothing could have prepared her though for the constant interview requests that eventually forced Ms. Gifford to seek professional help from public relations company Max Clifford Associates.
A week after the bombings, Ms. Gifford was asked by a Mail on Sunday journalist if she “had anything good scheduled”. Not wanting to contribute to a hollow “feel good” story, she sarcastically told how she was beginning a post-traumatic weight loss plan.
Other victims had more harrowing experiences, like a fellow passenger unable to leave her home as journalists camped outside her house for days.
Mark Brayne, founder of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma in Europe, points out: “Journalists should know that they do not have an absolute right to an answer when they approach trauma victims and ask them to recount their experiences. Journalists need to respect that. They need to be humble. And I don’t see enough humility in contemporary journalism.”
For many survivors there is the danger that such encounters can compound victims trauma, as journalist Christine Toomey said during a trauma victims panel held at City University on Tuesday night. After interviewing one of the Bosnian rape victims, Ms. Toomey revealed that the woman had to be re-hospitalized.
56 people were killed and 700 injured in the 2005 terrorist attacks on London’s transit system. It was considered one of the deadliest attacks on British soil, fueling a substantial media response.
Mr. Brayne calls for the press to minimize harm in such incidents: “There ought to be a Hippocratic Oath for journalists, to do no avoidable harm.”
*Names may have been altered to protect the identity of sources
Posted February 11, 2009 at 1:14 pm. Add a comment
Oxfam has revealed in a report released today that the global food crisis is now affecting up to one billion people in developing countries worldwide. The report has called on governments, with the help of aid agencies and donors, to act immediately to relieve the suffering of some of the world’s poorest people.
The report says: “Hungry people cannot be fed on the hope of long-term solutions. Governments, supported by aid agencies and donors, must act now to provide systematic emergency assistance.”
The recent increase in food prices from 2007 to 2008 proved devastating to more than 850 million people already living in chronic poverty. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) by the end of 2008 rising food costs increased this amount to 963 million, with nearly two-thirds living in the Asia-pacific region, with 200 million in India.
People living on less than a dollar a day spend 50 to 80 per cent of their income on food, which leaves little left to spend on clothes, health, or education.
In the words of Pamela Ataa from Kenya: “Look I have no shoes! But it’s an empty stomach that will kill me, not wearing no shoes.”
As developed nations look for solutions to the problems that led to the world financial crisis, the report highlights the failures within the current economic model that helped to trigger the food crisis.
The policy of ‘structural adjustment’ endorsed by the international community over the last 30 years has encouraged developing countries to cut social welfare programmes to meet budget deficits, and as a result the populations of developing states suffer from a lack of government aid.
The policy of free trade has also been harmful, as poorer states are told to open up their markets to food imports, which often flood the domestic economy. This results in many of these countries becoming dependent on food imports, making them more vulnerable to the sharp rise in food prices. Such policies must be reversed if long-term solutions are to be found, says the report.
According to Oxfam the food crisis has taken a turn for the worst as a result of the global recession and the threat of climate change, which increases the frequency of floods, droughts and tropical cyclones that destroy the livelihood of farmers in developing countries.
The report reveals that much of the world has received little or no help from the international community:
“Currently, the majority of hungry people receive no assistance. Where they do, it is often ad hoc, temporary, and inappropriate.”
Governments of developed countries are encouraged to take “urgent and sustained” action by providing food relief and greater access to vital resources such as land and water.
Posted February 5, 2009 at 3:00 pm. 1 comment
Cotton is next on the Fairtrade agenda reveals Bristol-based Fairtrade coordinator Jenny Foster, who tells how the organization is gearing up to combat the global food crisis.
“I think the key thing is that people continue to buy Fairtrade,” says Foster. “While we may suffer from the recession, people in the developing world are suffering more, using half their income to buy rice.”
The global food crisis has impacted the problems already facing much of the world’s producers in developing countries. As government income and employment declines steadily and people in the west tighten their belts, many poorer nations cannot afford to lose the vital agricultural export industry that provides farmers with the only means to feed their families. The Fairtrade organization developed in response to what many see as unfair trade conditions imposed on developing countries by their western counterparts, and now it is needed more than ever.
The mother of two and busy PR manager for Bristol’s Fairtrade network says: “The Fairtrade organization is working with other development agencies to work out how to bring people of much poorer countries into the Fairtrade system to allow them to have a reliable income in these dire times.”
Fairtrade ensures that farmers and workers within the organization are provided with a set social premium that guarantees they are given a fair wage for their product. The organization has also worked hard to keep with environmental standards of sustainability. The Fairtrade mark certifies that farmers aren’t using pesticides, or excessive amounts of water, and it encourages farmers to diversify their crops to counteract the volatility of the markets.
“We encourage diversification; so for example, we help banana farmers to harvest Macadamia nut trees. This is good for the soil, and it enables farmers to avoid relying on one crop so they can invest in other things,” says Mrs. Foster enthusiastically.
The Fairtrade organizer sees her main purpose as raising awareness of Fairtrade amongst the people of Bristol. She is well placed for this role given her experience as a Tradecraft representative. Indeed it would seem that Ms. Foster has always been committed to caring for the less fortunate, as evidenced by her many years employed as a social worker.
Amos and Gilbert, FT banana growers from the Windward Islands pictured with Jenny Foster in Anchor Square
Her passion for the job is wholly apparent, as she fervently explains, “there are so many trade rules in place that completely disadvantage the poor, the more pressure we put on governments to give producers in developing countries a fair price the better!”
So how exactly does Fairtrade work? When you’re buying in bulk, you can still pay a decent wage by cutting out the middleman, says Foster. On Fairtrade cooperatives everyone is given an equal share of work and profit. Plantations are also covered under Fairtrade, though to meet Fairtrade standards they are obliged to create workers’ committees that decide where the social premium money goes.
“They have to pay all their workers equally,” says Foster, and “they can’t employ slave labour to if they want to get the Fairtrade certification.”
Yet at the moment, not everyone, particularly producers in extremely impoverished countries can benefit from the Fairtrade label. Put simply, “we can’t keep up with the demand,” says Foster. Of course this is as much a difficulty as a symptom of Fairtrade’s success.
In the last ten years Fairtrade has grown exponentially as many supermarkets and coffee shops have expanded their Fairtrade product range. All of Sainsbury’s bananas are Fairtrade now, as is a great deal of M & S chocolate. Yet not all Fairtrade supporters are happy with certain aspects of the foundations expansion. The need to meet demand has led the organization to allow controversial outlets like Starbucks and Nestle to take on the Fairtrade mark.
“There was a huge public outcry against giving Nestle the Fairtrade label because most of what they do isn’t Fairtrade,” explains Foster, who adds, “it’s great to know there is that kind of public pressure out there actually.”
Yet Ms. Foster argued in favour of the decision: “It is better to try to bring these big companies onboard with gentle pressure because if you turn them down altogether, they’re just going to walk away.
“If we’re going to benefit the farmers, we have to work hand in hand with these big companies. If you just stick with the local retailers the amount of farmers you help is tiny.”
The next big event on the agenda is Fairtrade fortnight, and Foster will be keeping busy. “We’re doing a Fairtrade fashion show at Bristol Cathedral, which I’m really looking forward to,” she says with a smile. “I think cotton is the next thing, because there is more public interest about how our clothes are made.” Fairtrade will be working with Behind the Label to put on the event, which will be followed up by a conference on cotton in May. According to business savvy Foster, Fairtrade cotton will be the next Fairtrade coffee!
Posted February 2, 2009 at 9:05 am. Add a comment
