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Anti-GM warrior Lord Melchett, the former head of Greenpeace UK, who made his name in the 1990s destroying GM crops, has just taken a job with Burson-Marsteller, the world's largest corporate communications company. The former Labour minister
and farmer, who is on the board of Greenpeace International, has upset his
former friends because in the past Burson-Marsteller has worked for many
companies which Greenpeace had accused of poor environmental records.
Sensible people should be
pleased that this woolly-minded aristocrat is at last trying to help rather than
hinder such important companies as Monsanto, Union Carbide, and BP, as well as
nuclear utilities. The companies he is now trying to help make their money
from free trade, and because they provide valuable services many people are delighted
to trade with them. Unfortunately, Melchett has not decided to make his money the same way. He prefers extortion. He remains an “organic” farmer and a policy adviser to the Soil Association. His grandfather helped to found ICI and with the money Melchett inherited he now farms 800 acres in Norfolk, some of which he labels organic. He has not shed his
opposition to GM crops and is running little more than a protection racket.
Companies buy Melchett’s name in return for being left alone by his
cronies in Greenpeace. So long as they plant only the crops he approves of,
withdraw from the markets he tells them to, or contribute to Greenpeace's
coffers they get an easy ride. By hyping the dangers of GM food and persuading food companies to label GM ingredients, he creates a market for his own expensive products. The Range Rover drivers from Surrey who buy Melchett’s organic vegetables can afford the extra cost. A bit of diarrhoea from the shit that Melchett leaves on his carrots may even help them lose weight! They may not even be aware of the children in Africa and India who will die of malnutrition-related diseases because their food is too expensive for them to eat at all. However, Melchett is a
former Labour minister. He must be aware of the harm his campaigns are causing
to the world's real poor. Presumably so long as he's making money,
he doesn’t care about them. This is not Melchett’s
first money making scam from environmental extortion.
Click here to read
about the previous efforts of this vile man to make money from Iceland
Foods. Other well known
environmentalists who have left high-profile campaigning to work for people who
might be considered their opponents include Tom Burke, a former Friends of the
Earth director now with the mining company Rio Tinto, and Jonathon Porritt,
another former head of Friends of the Earth who now works for the government. At Burson-Marsteller
Melchett joins Richard Aylard, a former head of the Soil Association, and Gavin
Grant, a former head of communications for the Body Shop. For more information click here Jim Thornton Leeds 11 Jan 2002 |
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