The National Farmers' Union (NFU)

Profile

By Corporate Watch UK
Completed July 2003

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Unilever

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Influence / Lobbying

• Lobbying Groups

  In the UK
  In Europe
  On a regional/transatlantic level
  On a global level

• Influencing research and education

• Links with the UK government

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- Protests against Shell's drilling in Mayo continue
- Ahava Four acquitted of aggravated trespass
- Targeting the carbon trading business online
- Stop Vedanta
- Climate Camps in Wales and Scotland

Corporate Watch's round-up of this month's news.

On July 22nd 2004 the most recent piece of British asylum and immigration legislation received royal assent, further extending the legal framework that regulates immigrants and asylum seekers in the UK. As an area of British law, immigration and asylum has received an almost unprecedented amount of legislation recently, the latest Act being the fifth in only eleven years. This 'legislative incontinence'1 reflects the great interest and political importance made of the immigration and asylum issue. It is an area that has seen not only incredible domestic focus but also much attention at EU level where there are moves towards increased European co-operation and management.2

WATCHING THE CORPORATIONS

Franco-British charter flights to deport Afghan refugees

Thousands of Afghan refugees who have been denied asylum in France and the UK could be forcibly deported to the war-devastated country on joint charter flights if a proposed agreement between France and Afghanistan goes ahead. Gérard Gavory, deputy head of the regional government of Calais, France, recently hinted that the deportations could be imminent as a result of "international negotiations." He also said French authorities have been "working effectively with Britain to set up joint [deportation charter] flights."

QinetiQ - history and structure

QinetiQ was formed in July 2001 when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) split its Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) in two. The smaller portion of DERA, which engaged with the more ‘sensitive’ military research, including running Porton Down, was rebranded DSTL and remains part of the MoD. The larger part of DERA, including most of the MoD's non-nuclear testing and evaluation establishments, was renamed QinetiQ and prepared for privatisation. The company became a public private partnership in 2002 with the purchase of a stake by US based private equity company the Carlyle Group.

Public relations and lobbying industry

an overview

By Corporate Watch UK
Completed April 2003

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6.0 PR and the Public

6.1 Astroturf campaigns
6.2 Countering activists and NGOs

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Like the iceberg, most CSR activity is invisible...It is often an active attempt to increase corporate domination rather than simply a defensive 'image management' operation. 76

Direct Action Against Israel – Part 1

On the second big Gaza solidarity march in London on 10th January, angry protesters smashed the front of a Starbucks store on Kensington High St, near the Israeli embassy, while other activists occupied the Ahava beauty shop in central London. Other actions in protest at the Israeli massacre in Gaza this month have included occupying the offices of the British Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM) in central London, 'decommissioning' the ITT/EDO arms factory in Brighton and university occupations across the country calling for divestment. So, who are these companies and why are they being targeted by protesters and campaigners? Corporate Watch takes a detailed look.

We live in a free society, with a free media -- everyone knows that. But somehow... certain stories seem to just 'happen' to slip through the gaps in our free press, and remain in obscurity; and this often includes important stories about corporate and government power. There's a reason for this: the press feeds off official releases from reputable bodies, such as government departments, major companies and NGOs; investigating and publicising stories not already made safe and acceptable is far more expensive in terms of resources.

Organic farms have historically been small, family-run mixed farms producing for local markets, but this story is starting to change as conventional agribusiness and the supermarkets move in. Organic shops, too, are expanding, or being bought up, and increasingly resembling their non-organic counterparts.

The US/UK-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 was not to remove Saddam Hussein, or to lessen the risk of terrorist attacks, or to reduce supplies of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). It was about preserving US/UK access to, and control over, the oil reserves of Iraq, the second largest in the world. This being the case, a military invasion and occupation is insufficient. In order to guarantee long-term control over Iraqi natural resources an Iraqi economy has to be created that is hospitable to the oil majors, such as Shell, Esso and BP. Corporate involvement in Iraq is therefore one of the key issues in the world today. If the corporate occupation of Iraq succeeds in creating a neo-liberal Iraq, then control over these immense natural resources passes firmly into the hands of US/UK-backed corporations. Iraq's oil will become further fuel for the current cycle of war, invasions and environmental catastrophe, which threaten us all.

RESISTING THE CORPORATIONS

Interview - The 'Stolen Beauty' Campaign

US women's anti-war movement, CODEPINK, has launched a new campaign highlighting the role Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, an Israeli settlement-based spa products company that exploits Palestinian resources and land. After a number of high-profile protests, which spread from the USA to the UK, continental Europe and Israel, Stolen Beauty has already scored some significant goals. Sarah Irving talks to the campaign's Nancy Kricorian.

As the UK continues to fortify its border with increasing use of technology to intercept people travelling in the back of or under trucks, hundreds of migrants from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and elsewhere, find themselves stuck in the French port town of Calais for months on end.

As the G8 prepares to impose its neo-liberal “solutions” on Africa, Corporate Watch uncovers how this policy has been directly influenced by the very corporations responsible for creating poverty and havoc in the continent. These include Rio Tinto, De Beers, Shell and Anglo American as well as one of Africa's largest companies – UK alcohol multinational Diageo, which just happens to own Gleneagles Hotel where the Summit is taking place.

Iraq is a breadbasket of the Middle East and the genetic origin of wheat. Is the US putting legislation in place in preparation for commercialising GM wheat there in order to get a foothold in Asia? You bet it is.

Bayer AG

A Corporate Profile

By Corporate Watch UK
Completed March 2002

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6 Further Links, Contacts and Resources