|
|
Student activists are Britain's first to lobby their MP on a new campaign to make business behave ethically
 16-year-olds Rozie Webster and Sam Wolfson, pupils at Highgate Wood School in Crouch End, London came face to face with their MP in Parliament on Tuesday.
Rozie, who is a campaigner with ActionAid, explained the problem with current company regulation laws that are being discussed in Parliament.
"Two thirds of international trade is carried out by huge multinational companies. But some of these behave irresponsibly - including UK companies - and have harmed poor communities and the environment.
"Local MPs like Lynne Featherstone have the power to do something about this by voting for a strong Company Law Reform Bill this spring. This is a great chance for ordinary MPs to do something real to make poverty history."
Sam and Rozie, from Crouch End, are hoping that their visit to Lynne has set an example to others. This was the first time the students had contact with their MP.
Speaking with Hornsey and Wood Green MP Lynne Featherstone for an hour, they asked her to support the growing number of voices calling for companies to face greater scrutiny and regulation over their practices in developing countries.
Rozie said: "The meeting went really well and Lynne was really keen to voice our concerns in Parliament."
Sam added: "I was expecting it to be difficult to see my MP, but it was just a matter of writing a letter and making a phone call."
"I hope that my meeting with Lynne will encourage other young people to lobby their own MPs to ensure that promises to make poverty history are kept," says Rozie.
ActionAid's youth campaigner, Brendan O'Donnell, added: "If an effective law is agreed, it would make companies more responsible for any harm they cause to people and environments in poor countries.
"An MP's constituents have a lot of power. It's tremendous that young people are getting involved in the political process in order to convince their MP that this is an important issue. It's vital that poor people in the developing world are not harmed by the activities of business."
For
more details on this story, please click here.
Photos: Kristian Buus/ActionAid
|
