‘Scotland Against TTIP’ coalition launches as opposition grows to EU-USA trade deal

‘Scotland Against TTIP’ coalition launches as opposition grows to EU-USA trade deal

Date: 7 April 2015

This weekend a broad coalition of fourteen Scottish-based organisations will formally begin work together to oppose the controversial EU-US trade agreement TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership). Launching as the ‘Scotland Against TTIP’ coalition at an event in Glasgow on Saturday 11 April, the organisations and their members will actively oppose TTIP which they say threatens public services, progressive legislation and democracy in Scotland.

The coalition includes seven trades unions, anti-poverty campaigners Global Justice Now, environmental and food organisations Friends of the Earth Scotland and Nourish, the Radical Independence Campaign and the People’s Assembly. Members of the coalition argue that the trade deal could damage the NHS, put other public services at risk of privatisation, threaten legislation to protect public health and the environment, and give unprecedented power to trans-national corporations. The treaty could allow the Scottish government to be sued by corporations if its laws or policies damaged a company’s profits.

Liz Murray, the head of Scottish campaigns at Global Justice Now said:

“The Scotland Against TTIP coalition is part of a growing movement across Europe that aims to prevent a massive corporate power grab taking place at the expense of democratic sovereignty.

TTIP would have serious consequences across a huge spectrum of issues, which is why the coalition represents such an incredibly wide range of organisations, from trade unionists to local food campaigners and anti-poverty campaigners to environmental activists. Democracy is about what’s best for everyone, not what’s best for the world’s richest and most powerful corporations. The TTIP deal is a hijack of democracy, and we need to stop it.”

TTIP is one of a new wave of trade deals that are being negotiated that threaten democracy, public services and the environment worldwide.  TTIP is proving to be the most controversial piece of legislation that the European Commission has ever tried to implement. More than a million and a half people in Europe have signed a petition calling for it to be scrapped, while on 18 April a day of action is taking place with hundreds of events and demonstrations taking place across the continent.