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NGOs Call European Commission to Curb Corporate Lobbying Power |
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EU Politics
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In an open letter released Monday October 25th, over 50 NGOs (including SpinWatch) from more than a dozen EU countries, call upon Commission President Barroso "to act immediately to curb the excessive influence of corporate lobby groups over EU policymaking". The open letter is online at:
http://www.corporateeurope.org/barroso.html
A very swift - if not hurried - response came from the Society of European Affairs Professionals (SEAP), a lobby group representing professional lobbyists in brussels. SEAP was established in 1997 with the explicit purpose of preventing binding EU regulations for lobbying ethics and transparency to emerge. SEAP's letter to Mr. Barroso is online at:
http://www.corporateeurope.org/docs/SEAPreacts.pdf |
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Brazil Raids Kroll Offices in Spy Probe |
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PR Industry
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10.27.2004,
AP
Police raided the Brazilian offices of international security consultant Kroll Inc. and other businesses Wednesday as part of their investigation into allegations of illegal spying by Kroll during the company's probe of a nasty corporate dispute, the company said. |
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Think Tanks lassen die Grenze zwischen PR und Journalismus verschwimmen |
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PR Industry
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Think Tanks sollen Stimmung schaffen und lassen die Grenze zwischen PR und Journalismus verschwimmen
Telepolis
Harald Neuber 19.10.2004
Millionenschwere PR-Kampagnen beeinflussen nach einer Studie mit teils fragw?rdigen Strategien die ?ffentliche Meinung in Deutschland zugunsten neoliberaler Reformen
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Anger at greenhouse climbdown |
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British Politics
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BBC News
Wednesday, 27 October, 2004, 14:11 GMT 15:11 UK
Plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions produced by industry are to be scaled back by the government, a move branded by green groups as a "major climbdown".
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will now be capped at 756m tonnes over the next three years - up from of 736m tonnes. < |
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Think Tanks lassen die Grenze zwischen PR und Journalismus verschwimmen |
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PR Industry
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Think Tanks sollen Stimmung schaffen und lassen die Grenze zwischen PR und Journalismus verschwimmen
Telepolis
Harald Neuber?? 19.10.2004
Millionenschwere PR-Kampagnen beeinflussen nach einer Studie mit teils fragw?rdigen Strategien die ?ffentliche Meinung in Deutschland zugunsten neoliberaler Reformen
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Tobacco firm gained secret access to Blair |
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British Politics
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The Guardian
Documents obtained by the Guardian disclose how BAT pressured Tony Blair and a cabinet minister who wanted to hold an inquiry into the firm.
Rob Evans, David Leigh and Kevin Maguire
Wednesday October 27, 2004
Documents obtained by the Guardian disclose today how one of the world's biggest tobacco companies, British American Tobacco, was able to put private pressure on Tony Blair and a cabinet minister who wanted to hold an inquiry into allegations that the firm was colluding with criminals.
Behind the back of parliament and public, the head of British American Tobacco (BAT), Martin Broughton, obtained access to Mr Blair at a private breakfast, followed by an equally private meeting with the then trade secretary, Stephen Byers.
These unpublicised privileges were granted despite the fact that his company stood accused of colluding in cigarette smuggling on an unprecedented scale. |
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Gambling industry Lobbying in UK |
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British Politics
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Big players lobbying for piece of the action
David Hencke, Westminster correspondent
Tuesday October 26, 2004
The Guardian
Lobbying companies and international investment banks played a big role in persuading the government to create a market for 24-hour casinos. |
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Pensions staff secrecy warning |
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British Government
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The Mail on Sunday
Dan Atkinson, Mail on Sunday
24 October 2004
WHISTLEBLOWERS working on the Government's controversial pension modernisation scheme have been threatened with criminal prosecution. |
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The 9/11 Secret in the CIAs Back Pocket |
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War on Terror
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Los Angeles Times
October 19, 2004
Robert Scheer:
The agency is withholding a damning report that points at senior officials.
It is shocking: The Bush administration is suppressing a CIA report on 9/11 until after the election, and this one names names. Although the report by the inspector general's office of the CIA was completed in June, it has not been made available to the congressional intelligence committees that mandated the study almost two years ago. |
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US gambling head lobbied No 10 before Bill change |
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British Politics
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The Times
October 22, 2004
By Sam Coates
THE head of the world?s largest slot-machine company visited No 10 this year to lobby the Government to relax the gambling laws, The Times has learnt.
The meeting took place shortly before the Government announced major changes to the Gambling Bill to tilt the rules in favour of the giant US casino companies. The news of the meeting has caused uproar among opposition politicians and anti-gambling groups who say that they have not been given similar top-level access.
A spokesman for the Salvation Army, which is pressing for its own No 10 meeting, said that it was particularly aggrieved as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport told it yesterday that no such top-level meetings had taken place. Yesterday the Prime Minister, along with John Prescott, Tessa Jowell and Patricia Hewitt, were formally asked by one MP to disclose whom they had met from the US casino industry. Thomas Baker, chairman of International Game Technology (IGT), the world?s largest slot-machine manufacturer, visited Downing Street at the start of the year after the company announced plans for a massive expansion in the UK. |
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Big Pharma
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More companies hire government-affairs experts and expand their involvement in legislative issues as the health-care industry undergoes intense political scrutiny.
by Gina-Louise Monari
MedAdNews
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Ministers accused of misleading Parliament on Iraq |
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British Government
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The Telegraph
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent and George Jones, Political Editor
(Filed: 20/10/2004)
Ministers were accused last night of misleading Parliament over the redeployment of British troops in Iraq to an American-controlled area. A decision to move the soldiers was made more than a week ago, defence sources said.
"It was decided and virtually under way," one said, describing the Government's claim that no decision had been made as "nonsense". He added: "I think there is an issue over the extent to which they have misled Parliament."
he accusations will increase pressure on Tony Blair, who was struggling last night to contain the most serious backbench revolt he has faced on Iraq with many Labour MPs who supported the war opposed to the redeployment of 600 soldiers of the Black Watch. |
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Greg Dyke pens apology for Blair |
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British Government
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The Guardian
Matt Wells, media correspondent
Tuesday October 19, 2004
If Tony Blair has been struggling to find a way to say sorry for the way in which he presented the case for war on Iraq, he could turn to Greg Dyke for help.
Not that he is likely to be happy with the result: a draft apology unveiled last night by the former BBC director general runs to 581 words and covers 10 specific issues.
Giving the James Cameron memorial lecture at City University in London, Mr Dyke called on the prime minister to admit, among other things, the absence of any evidence to support the claims that Saddam Hussein had an "active and growing" programme of weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Dyke also said Mr Blair should say sorry for describing one of the dossiers that made the case for war as an "intelligence report" when it was "bogus information which Alastair Campbell's department had found on the internet".
In his lecture, sponsored by the Guardian, he advises Mr Blair to say: "Incidentally, I am also sorry that I didn't fire Alastair Campbell for incompetence when I found this out." |
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Dame Neville-Jones quits BBC after Iraq links exposed |
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Iraq
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Brand Republic/ Media Bulletin
Gordon MacMillan, Brand Republic 13:30 19-10-2004
LONDON ? Dame Pauline Neville-Jones has quit the BBC board of governors a year early, after her links with defence firms supplying US forces in Iraq were exposed earlier this month.
Neville-Jones was called upon to stand down earlier this month after it was revealed she held shares in defence firm Qinetiq. She was reported to hold ?50,000 in shares in the firm and last year earned ?133,000 from the company as chairman.
Greg Dyke blamed Neville-Jones for helping to force him out as director-general following the Hutton Report. |
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Former British envoy is suspended |
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British Government
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BBC NEWS
A UK diplomat who was withdrawn as ambassador to Uzbekistan has been suspended on full pay.
Craig Murray, 45, was recalled from his post in the capital Tashkent this week.
He said the reason for his removal was his criticism of the use of intelligence allegedly obtained under torture by the Uzbekistan Government.
The Foreign Office has confirmed that Mr Murray is suspended, despite earlier statements that he was not facing disciplinary action.
Mr Murray said he became a "victim of conscience" after a memo in which he claimed MI6 had used the information was leaked to a newspaper last week. |
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John Birt in cash for advice controversy |
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British Government
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The Independent
By Andy McSmith, Political Editor
17 October 2004
John Birt, the former BBC director general who advises Tony Blair on long-term government strategy, has asked to be paid for advice which up to now he has given freely, according to Whitehall sources.
Lord Birt's role has increased since the head of the Downing Street Strategy Unit, Geoff Mulgan, left in July. But the prospect of him becoming a paid adviser has prompted fears among leading civil servants about a possible clash of interest with his outside business links. |
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MP who led gaming review in line for top casinos job |
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British Government
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The Sunday Times
October 17, 2004
Nicholas Hellen and Matthew Goodman
THE chairman of the parliamentary committee that approved the ending of restrictions on casinos is in the running to head the Gambling Commission, which will award the lucrative casino licences.
John Greenway, chairman of the joint committee on the draft Gambling Bill, is a contender to chair the commission, which will be created by the new legislation.
As its head, he would play a key role in deciding whether to unleash a gambling binge in Britain. A gambling trade body has predicted that the number of problem gamblers will double to 700,000, twice the current level, by 2010. |
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GOLDEN ARCHES GO AS MCDONALDS UK OFFERS A HEALTHY OPTION |
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Food Industry
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Purveyor of burgers to the planet, McDonalds is having a little local difficulty in the UK.
The company's famous golden arches are being dismantled as part of a new ad campaign to persuade British gourmets there is more to the brand than simply fat. |
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Food Industry
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news.bbc.co.uk
4 October 2004
As obesity levels in the UK rise alarmingly the Department of Health has issued a clear warning that after attempts to tackle the amount of salt in our diet, sugar will be next in line.
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Secret papers show Blair was warned of Iraq chaos |
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Iraq
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www.telegraph.co.uk
10 October 2004
Michael Smith
Tony Blair was warned a year before invading Iraq that a stable post-war government would be impossible without keeping large numbers of troops there for "many years", secret government papers reveal.
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