A little less conversation, a lot more action
27 April 2010
What the world needs now is a completely new approach to solving the problems of the global economy. The greatest commitment we could get from any political party would be to break with the free market policies that caused the financial crisis and still threaten to throw millions more people into unemployment across the world. Policies should include closing tax havens, ending Britain’s support for unfair trade deals and supporting the introduction of a tax on sterling currency transactions to curb bank profits and bonuses and reduce speculation.
It’s time to hold to account companies that abuse workers in their supply chain. A good start would be a pledge to regulate UK fashion retailers to stop the exploitation of overseas workers in the drive for fast fashion. All parties should support the appointment of an ombudsman to oversee the powerful supermarket sector.
War is one of the chief causes of poverty. Britain has the second largest mercenary industry, which leaves civilians in war zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq exposed to human rights abuse. To tackle this dangerous move towards the privatisation of war, parties should commit to the regulation of private military and security companies including a ban on mercenaries' use in combat and combat support.
Finally, we want to see a clear stance against Israel’s continued occupation of Palestine, including the siege of Gaza. Despite ongoing human rights violations and the UK government's own arms export guidelines, Britain has continued to license arms exports to Israel. We should commit to a two-way arms embargo with Israel until it complies with international law.
It’s time for politicians to support the fundamental changes of approach that are needed to end global injustice.
More information
Image by Flickr user Greg Knapp (Creative Commons license)
Comment:
