Manchester's Public Services Auctioned to Big Business

Members of the public looked on aghast as the health, postal and water services were auctioned off to big-business fat cats with no regulations attached, for knock down prices. The street theatre included an auctioneer with lectern and gavel selling a MFoE member dressed as a giant tap (water services), a giant letter (postal services), a large suitcase with holiday clothes (tourism) and another MFoE member dressed as a doctor (health services). Despite "the people", one dressed in sack cloth, wanting to keep these services they were sold to actors in "Fat Cat" suits. (See more photos)

Threats are posed to local basic services by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) which is an international trade agreement currently being negotiated at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva. The action is part of a European-wide day of protest about the controversial WTO negotiations with actions taking place outside every UK Regional Government Office.

In Manchester, the campaigners also handed over a letter to the Director of the Government Office at Sunley Tower, expressing their concerns about the implications of GATS that are:

• GATS puts profit before people's basic needs and rights. It will lever-open basic services to the free market, something that is highly controversial around the world. Recent leaks of key documents show that previous promises that the EU would not "request" opening up basic services like water in the developing world have, disturbingly, not been honoured.
• GATS undermines democracy at regional, national and international levels by being effectively irreversible, locking in future governments to its free market rules.
• Negotiations are taking place in secret with no proper public consultation or parliamentary scrutiny.

Liz Chater of Manchester Friends of the Earth commented:

"The UK Government is backing this World Trade Organisation agreement that will threaten public services and poor people around the world at the expense of offering a bargain basement deal to big business. We all rely on basic services such as clean water, health, education and public transport. But for people in the poorest countries they make the daily difference between life and death. This agreement could harm these basic services here and abroad because like our auction it is rigged in favour of multinational companies who care more about profits than people and the environment. This agreement is undemocratic. We elect councillors and MPs to make decisions about how local public services are provided, not groups of international lawyers and trade negotiators in Switzerland. It is time to put people before profit and call a halt to GATS."

More Information

• GATSwatch
• MFoE's corporates campaign page

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Liz Chater (echater@fish.co.uk)

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