So, next British American Tobacco will be able to sue the tax payer for damages due to losses caused by smoking restrictions.
The whole board of BAT (and all other tobacco companies) should be shot for crimes against humanity IMO.
Meanwhile…
Omigod bribery and graft on steroids.
This has to be a joke. Surely the Australians have more sense
Morning all
Tribunals like this were one of the major points of the TTIP arrangements.
I believe they were to be held in secret, may be wrong on that one.
This would allow multinationals to wield more power than governments.
Have a great sunny day
Andy
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Absolutely right Andy - and they are already in Australian trade agreements. It’s called investor-state dispute settlement, and allows big corporations to sue governments before secretive arbitration panels composed of corporate lawyers, which bypass domestic courts and override the will of parliaments.
This mechanism threatens almost any means by which governments seek to defend their citizens or protect the natural world. Already it is being used by mining companies to sue governments trying to keep them out of protected areas; by banks fighting financial regulation; etc. The tobacco company Philip Morris sued Australia through this mechanism in another treaty when the Australian government tried to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes.
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Forgot about Philip Morris issue Geof, just shows that this is not just idle chatter, but will have a major impact on trade issues.
Again this will be brushed under the carpet. Have just heard Johnson is having a Pubilc Enquiry into buying a bigger one
Andy
and if cheese wasn’t enough… Truss has steel to contend with now:
I thought the “hammer blow” was quite witty though…
