Poll suggests public will back social limits on big business
-04/04/06
Nine out of ten
Poll suggests public will back social limits on big business
-04/04/06
Nine out of ten people in Britain want the Government to bring in enforceable rules to ensure businesses minimise any harm from their operations, especially to poor communities and the environment, according to a new ICM poll just published.
The Poll, commissioned by the CORE Coalition and the Trade Justice Movement also reveals voters believe company directors should be legally held to account for their companiesí impact on wider society.
The pollís publication coincides with the launch of a campaign, backed by groups including Christian Aid, ActionAid, Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth and War on Want, to improve the Governmentís Company Law Reform Bill ñ the biggest reform of company law for 150 years. The poll highlights public support for the Government to introduce enforceable rules on business in order to help deliver trade justice around the world.
“This bill goes to the heart of what UK companies are and do,” said Eliot Whittington, Advocacy officer at Christian Aid.
“This is the opportunity of a generation for the government to give company directors the power and responsibility to protect people and planet as they make their profits. A bill that merely suggests companies
should take account of their environmental and social impacts won’t be enough to stop irresponsible companies from exploiting natural resources, workers and communities around the world.”
The poll suggested that 90% of voters considered Government should set out enforceable rules to ensure companies are ësocially responsibleí – for example to ensure companies do not damage the environment. A similar proportion thought that multinationals should be legally obliged to publish reports on a range of issues, including how they treat their employees and how they impact on their local communities.
64% thought that company directors should be legally obliged to minimise the effects of their business to ensure that profits do not come at the expense of the wider community.
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 Alun Michael MP, Industry 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. Over the next few weeks, activists will take the campaign to their MPs with local face-to-face lobbying for changes to company law.
Commenting on the findings of the poll, Deborah Doane, CORE Coalition Director, said, ìThe UK Governmentís voluntary approach to corporate responsibility has left companies to their own devices, failing millions of people around the world. Markets need rules to ensure that companies do not sacrifice people and planet in the name of profits. The British public are clearly in favour of new rules and now is the time for Government to act on this support.î
Glen Tarman, Trade Justice Movement Co-ordinator, said, ìLast year, millions of people supported Make Poverty History with its demand that the UK Government make laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the environment. This year, the Company Law Reform Bill is a specific opportunity for the Government to take concrete action and deliver on its promises to make poverty history and help deliver trade justice. That is why campaigners from across the UK will now start visiting their MPs in the coming weeks to get our message across, with many tens of thousands more contacting their MP. The Government must bring in new laws for trade justice with this Bill.î
Poll suggests public will back social limits on big business
-04/04/06
Nine out of ten people in Britain want the Government to bring in enforceable rules to ensure businesses minimise any harm from their operations, especially to poor communities and the environment, according to a new ICM poll just published.
The Poll, commissioned by the CORE Coalition and the Trade Justice Movement also reveals voters believe company directors should be legally held to account for their companiesí impact on wider society.
The pollís publication coincides with the launch of a campaign, backed by groups including Christian Aid, ActionAid, Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth and War on Want, to improve the Governmentís Company Law Reform Bill ñ the biggest reform of company law for 150 years. The poll highlights public support for the Government to introduce enforceable rules on business in order to help deliver trade justice around the world.
“This bill goes to the heart of what UK companies are and do,” said Eliot Whittington, Advocacy officer at Christian Aid.
“This is the opportunity of a generation for the government to give company directors the power and responsibility to protect people and planet as they make their profits. A bill that merely suggests companies
should take account of their environmental and social impacts won’t be enough to stop irresponsible companies from exploiting natural resources, workers and communities around the world.”
The poll suggested that 90% of voters considered Government should set out enforceable rules to ensure companies are ësocially responsibleí – for example to ensure companies do not damage the environment. A similar proportion thought that multinationals should be legally obliged to publish reports on a range of issues, including how they treat their employees and how they impact on their local communities.
64% thought that company directors should be legally obliged to minimise the effects of their business to ensure that profits do not come at the expense of the wider community.
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 Alun Michael MP, Industry 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. Over the next few weeks, activists will take the campaign to their MPs with local face-to-face lobbying for changes to company law.
Commenting on the findings of the poll, Deborah Doane, CORE Coalition Director, said, ìThe UK Governmentís voluntary approach to corporate responsibility has left companies to their own devices, failing millions of people around the world. Markets need rules to ensure that companies do not sacrifice people and planet in the name of profits. The British public are clearly in favour of new rules and now is the time for Government to act on this support.î
Glen Tarman, Trade Justice Movement Co-ordinator, said, ìLast year, millions of people supported Make Poverty History with its demand that the UK Government make laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the environment. This year, the Company Law Reform Bill is a specific opportunity for the Government to take concrete action and deliver on its promises to make poverty history and help deliver trade justice. That is why campaigners from across the UK will now start visiting their MPs in the coming weeks to get our message across, with many tens of thousands more contacting their MP. The Government must bring in new laws for trade justice with this Bill.î