Much of the content on The Unpopular Vote is personal opinion, made in the wake of evidence and, or, experience. Once in a while, though, we may actually make some sense.
With that in mind, here is an article that appeared on 'the other' site, ManLander.co.uk - syndicated here in all its splendour... Well, it's here at any rate...
Okay lads, and ladies, it is not often we will go down a political path but this one is just too important for us to ignore. You have probably heard of TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) by now, but do you know everything that you need to? The biggest concern for the people of the United Kingdom is the threat to the NHS, which is outlined further down this page.
Here are the main concerns that people in the know have about TTIP, which will affect everyone:
- Investor-State-Dispute-Settlement (ISDS):
In a nutshell, this allows foreign investors (that is, for us Euros, US and Canadian companies) to sue your government. If businesses feel their profits have been damaged by the laws and regulations of individual member states (countries), they will have the right to sue for damages. This includes laws designed to protect individuals and the environment.
This clause on its own should be enough to have you worried, if not continue reading.
- Regulatory co-operation
As and when new laws and regulations are to be introduced, groups of companies must be consulted with first to ensure they are not affected. What does this mean? Companies will have direct hand in the formation of national and international law, all the while making certain that their bottom line is not affected in anyway regardless of consequences or the impact on others.
These consultations would occur before the drafts are even discussed in parliament, making a complete mockery of the democratic process. Still not convinced TTIP needs to be stopped?
- The whole thing is being orchestrated by big business
You have probably guessed, after reading the above, that the ones that stand to gain the most are big business so you have probably already surmised that TTIP negotiations are being heavily influenced by those very same organisations.
In the prep phase alone, nearly 600 meetings have already taken place between the EUC and lobbyists. A massive 92% of these meetings were with the representatives of large companies and organisations. Consumer groups and trade unions were invited in only a very small handful of cases. This is called a 'token gesture', done so that nobody can accuse anybody else of excluding those who will actually be affected. The people. However, by being grossly under-represented those voices are simply being ignored.
- Orchestrated by big business, in complete secrecy
The TTIP negotiations are held in secret. Ask your political representative what they know of the progress of the negotians, and you will be greeted with a blank stare into the middle distance. Why? because they are being deliberately kept in the dark so they cannot make a fuss or ask for amendments to the agreement. They do receive the results of negotiations, in the form of 'long agreements'. These documents are unwieldy, deliberately confusing and representatives must either reject or accept everything - amendments are not permitted.
When you consider that the CETA agreement alone is over 16 hundred pages long, the chances of a representative being able to do anything with it are almost zero.
- Employee rights will be eroded
Rights of employees will come under pressure, with positions in several industries becoming precarious. Already, in the United States, there are just a few basic rights for employees that are actually recognised. In fact just 2 of 8 core labour standards, set out by the ILO are recognised. As for those positions that could come under fire? The possible affected industries are the electrical and agriculcture industries, because of tougher foreign competition.
Both of these things could see huge job losses within the UK, and poorer working conditions for everyone else.
- Unsafe, untested practices and lower safety standards set to become the norm.
The European Union and her member states are coming under increasing pressure, which will intensify under TTIP, to allow risky and downright dangerous technologies to be given the green light. Fracking is already an issue here in the UK, and it will only get worse under the TTIP as big businesses pile on the pressure. GM technology is also on the agenda, and I'm pretty sure you've heard of Monsanto!
If that wasn't bad enough, to make the trading of certain items easier across the two nation groups, standards have to be, well, standardised. Sadly, the easiest way for this to happen is for the standards to match those of the United States - which are much lower than our own.
Food, cosmetics and medical products suddenly become a lot less safe for us to use. Don't believe me? There are several foodstuffs in the US, additives for example, that are banned in the EU and UK because they are deemed unfit for human consumption. With the lowering of standards to match those of the US, these items will no longer be banned and will find their way into our supermarkets with absolutely no warning.
Standards and codes of practice need to be raised, not lowered. Do the lower standards stop at food, drugs and cosmetics? Or do they extend to toy safety, vehicles, furniture, energy sources...?
Regulatory co-operation would make finding out these details, or even stopping the lowering of standards near impossible!
Save the NHS, stop TTIP
At the start of this page, we mentioned the NHS. How does TTIP affect it, can it affect it and what can we do to protect it?
The EU Commission has stated that there is wording within a draft document that protects the NHS from TTIP, and not just the NHS either. Cutting to the chase, the text states that state or publicly funded services cannot fall within the boundaries of the TTIP since they are not privately funded. So, case closed - the NHS is safe. Isn't it?
Not quite, no. NHS services that have been privatised, and any that may become privatised in the future DO fall within the grip of TTIP because they will be privately funded. There are services right now that American investors have financial stakes in. If TTIP does come into effect, these investors can sue the British government if they ever try to return these services to the public.
Sound ridiculous? It is, but it's also true. It doesn't end there, though. If these same services are impacted by the state funded majority portion of the NHS then there could be grounds for business led prosecutions there too of the government (there's that ISDS again).
It is all a little bleak, but there is something that you can do
There are initiatives going on right now, right across the European Union and there are a ton of things that you can do to make sure the word gets out and people are kept informed. TTIP needs to be stopped, and it needs to be stopped dead.
We are not powerless, even when we may feel like we are screaming into the abyss. The EU wants us to shut up, big business wishes we would go away and do as we are told and they both think that they can just go right ahead do whatever they like. Prove them wrong.
Share this page with everyone you can, and ask them to sign the petitions that you will find via the links below.
Share, sign, repeat.
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