> It was great to see coverage of the Christian Aid
> "Trade for Life" petition handover last week. The
> campaign for fairer international trade rules is
> of the utmost importance and it was good to hear
> that James Plaskitt MP will be passing on these
> concerns to Tony Blair. However, Mr. Plaskitt has
> his work cut out, because our government is not
> a neutral player; in fact, it is our government's
> role in calling for existing unfair trade rules
> to be expanded (rather than fixed) which makes
> it an enemy of the developing world. These rules
> bite at home too; the General Agreement on Trade
> in Services (GATS) not only threatens to hand
> essential services in the developing world to
> greedy multinational corporations, but also
> threatens to cast a long shadow over local
> democracy and regulation, a concern Warwick
> District Council recently recognised.