Without a shadow of a doubt 99 per cent of the British people would
consider the ability to make a politician run away to be a gift, which
would only be surpassed by the ability to make them disappear
altogether.
However watching the Minister for Trade Richard Caborn run away
from me
the other evening was a curious event. Despite his attempt to
remain
aloof, there was an air of panic in his behaviour, reminiscent of a
bull
running into an industrial blender. He was scared. Not of me but of
his
own department, the Export Credit Guarantee Department and it¹s
track
record in dealing with corruption, human rights abuse, corporate
welfare,
arms dealing and accountability.
Mr Caborn was leading the Governments reply to a Trade and
Industry Select
Committee Report into the ECGD in Westminster Hall. From the
safety of the
Hall, with no media cameras or baying pack of hacks Mr Caborn
fled.
Perhaps Mr Caborn was worried that I might question him on the
Ilisu Dam.
Perhaps he thought I might mention a company called Skanska, a
Swedish
firm involved in the dam project, who pulled out of the deal about 7
weeks
ago. As they represented 24 per cent of the consortium their
leaving is
enormously significant. Firstly, what lead them to quit the Ilisu dam
deal
was the impact the scheme was having on their public image and in
particular their environmental image. Secondly, those who support
the dam
have often said it will happen with or without British participation (in
the form of the ever-popular Balfour Beatty getting £200 million from
the
ECGD.) With Skanska gone we have proved that international
campaigning can
have an effect. Balfour Beatty has a 31per cent stake in the
project. If
they don¹t get the credit, the project is essentially finished.
If Mr Caborn was worried about that he shouldn¹t have been, it was
far
from my mind as his press department lackey tried to tug me away
from him.
Perhaps he was fretting that I might raise the Resettlement Action
Plan
(RAP). This report was commissioned by the Turkish Government
to assess
the proposed eviction process of some 25,000 Kurds. The leaked
report
revealed that the number of potential Kurds affected by the dam
had been
vastly underestimated and could be as many as 78,000.
Let me put Mr Caborn¹s mind at rest. The leaked report was far
from my
mind as he barged me aside whilst deeply engrossed in
conversation with
John Butterfill (Conservative Member for Bournemouth.) So maybe
Mr Caborn
thought he might be asked his reaction to the news that UCATT,
the
construction union, not only have policy condemning the dam but
the London
South East UCATT Regional Council have just issued a "Green
Ban" on it.
This means they will " encourage all UCATT members and
construction
workers within our region to refuse to undertake any works on the
contract." As the ECGD, Balfour Beatty and Mr Caborn have
boasted about
how great the dam is for British industry and therefore jobs, it might
seem a little awkward not to mention wilfully ungrateful for workers
to
refuse to work on the project.
But Mr Caborn I promise you that the "Green Ban " was not what I wanted
to
chat to you about. Maybe he thought I would mention Semor. Semor is the
Turkish firm who are being brought in to prepare the relocation of the
25,000-78,000 Kurds. Evidence from the region shows that Semor have
issued
consultation questionnaires to some Kurds. The fact that they have asked
people to fill in their answers in pencil and sign their names in pen
does
question the integrity of the consultation process, and the British
Government should demand to see the paperwork to assess it¹s fairness.
Wrong again Mr Caborn! I didn¹t want to even mention this to you. Had I
the chance to speak to you the other night this is what I would have
said.
" I am doing a new series of the Mark Thomas Product. Would you like to
take half of one the shows to promote the ECGD? All you have to do is
find
one project that best exemplifies the ECGD and you can have half
the show
to say whatever you want about it. In the other half of the show I will
talk about the worst project the ECGD has backed. Obviously as
the ECGD is
one of the most secretive departments in government it is difficult to
find examples of really bad work. However, as you have recently
talked of
about the new transparency in the ECGD, I would like you to
embrace that
spirit and tell me the worst project. You only have to give the
name."
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