The worldwide popularity of ATTAC, an association that
promotes controls on the financial markets, has inspired an
attempt to set up an ATTAC group in Britain.

ATTAC, an international network of national and local
pressure groups in 26 countries, has raised broad support in
Europe for a tax on currency speculation (the Tobin tax),
and for reforms of financial institutions, aimed at reducing
the human costs of globalisation. At a public meeting at
London's Conway Hall on the 17th of November, British
campaigners will speak alongside representatives from the
French, Irish and Swedish ATTACs, to discuss the question of
how a British ATTAC could work.

In the three years since it was founded, ATTAC has enjoyed
spectacular growth in membership and influence in several
countries. Its French chapter now has 30,000 members. Its
campaign for the Tobin tax has forced the French and German
Prime Ministers to take the proposal seriously, and put the
issue on the agenda of the European Council. Although the
national ATTAC groups have a common platform, each one has
its own structure, and campaigns are closely linked with
local issues.

ATTAC's work combines education with peaceful confrontation,
as when hundreds of members of ATTAC France sailed to Jersey
this past June, to debate with local authorities about
Jersey's status as a tax haven, and to attend workshops
where they learned about proposals for eliminating money
laundering. ATTAC also functions as a kind of think tank;
its vigorous critique of free-market economic policies comes
from an informal network of academics, who also provide a
steady stream of alternative proposals for parliaments to
consider. This approach appeals to a large number of people
who are alarmed by the power of market forces in their
lives, and who feel disenfranchised by party politics.

More information on the initiative to launch an ATTAC in
Britain can be found at  http://attac.org.uk. The
international ATTAC web site is  http://attac.org.

Friends of Le Monde diplomatique
Press contact: Marcus Bischoff
Tel.: 07855 193 406
Email:  marcus@attac.org.uk