Is UCL At BHP Billiton’s Beck And Call?

Date: 22 October 2014

Yesterday, at the last minute, University College London (UCL) cancelled an event about BHP Billiton in Colombia due to be held this evening. Why?

Yesterday, at the last minute, University College London (UCL) cancelled an event due to be held this evening. The key speakers were community members from Colombia who travelled to the UK to talk about their experiences of displacement and environmental destruction at the hands of BHP Billiton (BHP) – the largest mining company in the world. Why? We’re sure their motives are perfectly reasonable. Surely it’s not possible that they are worried that a funder of theirs will be upset? They do have a cosy relationship with BHP though. They even have a lecturer sponsored by BHP. But that definitely has nothing to do with it, right?

Fortunately, the voices of Colombians affected by the mining company will still be heard tonight at SOAS and they were heard today inside and outside BHP’s AGM as well. The company held its AGM 500 metres from Parliament today, a physical representation of how close fossil fuel companies are to the heart of our political system. Government ministers, such as Baroness Vadera, have worked at BHP. This is a perfect example of the Web of Power, which connects fossil fuel companies, banks and government through a series of revolving doors.

At the AGM, BHP executives tried to politely smile their way through tough questioning from community members from devastated communities in Colombia and from an Indonesian campaigner fighting to keep them out of the Borneo rainforest.

BHP keeps promising ‘dialogue’ and ‘cooperation’ at these meetings to save face, but the reality is that when the communities near BHP’s Cerrejon mine wrote to the company demanding justice they didn’t even get a response for two years.

This shows what a scam BHP’s claim to be a responsible corporation actually is.

The fossil fuel industry has a pervasive influence on our democracy, and on our society as a whole including our education system. But the influence doesn’t go unchallenged. Protestors gathered outside today’s AGM with banners and placards shouting “no justice, no peace, BHP Billiton out of Coal”. And, around the corner, Occupy Democracy were simultaneously standing up to the corporate capture of our parliament, linking together a wide variety of issues from the privatisation of the NHS to fracking.  Activists from both protests sent messages of solidarity to each other, illustrating their common struggle.

This evening (Thursday 23 October) in London there are a couple of ways to get involved with untying the stranglehold that this web of power has over the nation. Occupy from 6pm in parliament square – there will be a mass gathering, speakers and debate. Or SOAS from 7pm to learn more about the affects that BHP Billiton has on displaced communities in Colombia and how you can help.