Event announcement: 8 March 2006
14:30-16:00, Boothroyd Room, Portcullis House, Westminster

Corporate accountability and the Simultaneous Policy

Experts from campaigns advocating increased accountability for corporations will be presenting their proposals at a meeting at the UK Parliament, organised by Simpol-UK (the UK member of ISPO - the International Simultaneous Policy Organisation) and hosted by John Penrose MP, one of a dozen MPs who have so far signed a pledge to implement the Simultaneous Policy (SP) alongside other governments. Simultaneous implementation is intended to remove the fear of first-mover disadvantage and the very real risk of a country losing investment and jobs if it unilaterally introduces the policies necessary to solve global problems. The content of the Simultaneous Policy is to be determined by campaign supporters – known as SP Adopters – and Simpol-UK and local SP Adopters’ Groups are actively exploring possible policies for inclusion.

Speakers include:

· Franklin Fredrick: A member of the Brazilian Health Council working group on mineral water and the Movement to Protect the Water of Minas Gerais, speaking on efforts to protect the right to water (UK organisations including ActionAid, Baby Milk Action, Christian Aid, War on Want and WDM declared their support for this call on 2 March).

· Craig Bennet: Head of Corporate Campaigns, Friends of the Earth, a member of the CORE coalition campaigning for corporate law reform

· Tricia Feeney: Executive Director of Raid (Rights and Accountability in Development) on human rights norms and corporate accountability

· John Bunzl: Founder of ISPO and author of the book The Simultaneous Policy on how SP can help to make corporate accountability a reality.

· John Penrose: MP for Weston-super-Mare on the Conservative view and the role of SP.

SP provides a new democratic space to discuss the policies necessary to address global problems. Support for the campaign transcends party politics. The host of the event, John Penrose, is a Conservative MP who signed the pledge to implement SP during the last election (see www.simpol.org.uk for a full list of MPs who have signed the pledge).

Mike Brady, Coordinator of Cambridge SP Adopters’ Group, organised the event on Corporate Accountability for Simpol-UK having held public meetings on the topic in Cambridge in the past. He said:

“Corporations support strong regulation in the areas of contract law and protection of intellectual property rights and some advocate a level playing field with strong measures on environmental and human rights issues. As corporations become ever more powerful in this era of globalisation there is urgent need for we, the people of the world, to develop and implement a new social contract defining and enforcing acceptable corporate behaviour.”

For further information: Mike Brady,  mikebrady@simpol.org.uk Tel: 07986 736179