Lisa Nandy, Labour MP for Wigan, and chair of the cross-party group on international corporate responsibility, on why the political system needs to change.
By Lisa Nandy MP (Labour, Wigan)
As the News International crisis continues to unfold, the political system has suddenly discovered what campaigners have been telling us for years: that multi-national corporations sometimes behave with breathtaking irresponsibility.
The difficulty of holding those at the top of business to account, even when such behaviour is systemic throughout the organisation, has been dramatically illustrated in the last few days with the appearance of James and Rupert Murdoch before the culture, media and sport select committee.
It is certainly not news that large multinational companies operate beyond national boundaries – and in reality beyond national laws – without adequate frameworks to hold them to account, even when they violate the most basic human rights.
In the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal, financial crisis and now phone hacking, I am becoming increasingly convinced that we, as politicians, have a problem that simply cannot be solved within our existing political system. The implication of politicians and police in a scandal that has rocked the world’s second largest media organisation is proof that change, if it comes, will have to come from outside.
It is increasingly clear the political system, as it stands, is not capable of bringing about the wholesale transformation that is needed.
As chair of a cross-party group on international corporate responsibility, I have been appalled but not surprised by the revelations over recent weeks.
Over the past year I have seen businesses put profits before people across the world, or turn a blind eye to actions in which they were complicit, with devastating consequences for human rights and the environment. Yet conversely I have met CEOs who desperately want to ensure their supply chains are as ethical as possible but are unsure how to achieve it.
The challenges and difficulties in this should not be underestimated; global, complex supply chains present an almost infinite number of risks. It may not be possible to mitigate against these entirely but surely it must be right that, where parent companies and corporate directors do have leverage, they should be held responsible for wrongdoing that occurs on their watch.
The UN is thankfully taking action. Last month, the UN Human Rights Council voted unanimously to introduce, for the first time, a set of guiding principles on business and human rights. These centred on three pillars: the corporate duty to respect, the state duty to protect and access to remedy once human rights abuses have occurred. These could not be more important, or more relevant.
All three pillars apply to the News International scandal; if the first two had been upheld, we would not be in the situation we are in today.
Ed Miliband has referred to this as evidence of the “irresponsibility of the powerful” but has rightly recognised the failure of all major political parties to act. Four years after a News of the World employee was criminally convicted for intercepting phone messages and a full eight years after the (then) editor of the paper admitted she had bribed police officers for information, it is unbelievable action has only just been taken.
Change must come – not just to News International, but to all multinationals, to ensure they are as transparent and accountable as individuals and governments. Without fresh conviction we cannot make progress. I have been gratified by Ed Miliband’s leadership in speaking out so strongly against News International.
As politicians, we have a duty to define, not just seek, the so called ‘centre’ of politics and on this issue he has given voice to genuine public outrage.
This could be a significant break with the past. For decades, politicians have tried to seek out, not define the centre ground, ironically often pandering to opinion defined by the Murdoch press. Since I have been in Parliament I have become more convinced than ever that this centre-seeking approach alienates millions of people and denies them a voice.
As Steve Richards of the Independent has convincingly argued, the current crisis represents an enormous opportunity for our leaders:
“Those that can break free from their past will be the dominant forces in British politics for the next decade at least.”
The election of Ed Miliband was a step in the right direction and I hope he will seize the chance to push for systemic change. But the change that is needed in the Labour party, the political system and across wider society has to be bigger than just one man. I do not think it will come from the inside, although there are many of us who would like to see it.
It has to come from party members, trade unionists, community activists and wider civil society. In the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal, the banking crisis and the phone hacking drama that is currently unfolding, it is clear to all of us that change has to come, but if we do not start to demand it, I am certain things will not get better.
23 Responses to “Our current political system cannot bring about the change we need”
Shamik Das
Dear Selohesra, that is completely unfair. See my concluding line in this article – https://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/07/the-problem-of-blagging-goes-well-beyond-tabloid-phone-hacking-scandal/ – and read Tom Rouse’s article here – https://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/07/phone-hacking-scandal-is-piers-morgan-next/
Regards,
Shamik
Anon E Mouse
Are we allowed to mention on this site that the Guardian Media Group use tax avoidance schemes to pay less tax than the bankers despite their critism of the same and seem quite happy to print stories obtained by other illegal means such as the Wikileaks details?
Or have we got to stick to the tories evil Murdoch theme?
13eastie
Imagine if there were a national tabloid publisher owned by a former Labour MP.
What could possibly go wrong?
Dave Citizen
Beastie, Selo & Anon – tell me, what is it that motivates you to comment on these articles. Each time I read your points, hoping for some alternative take, only to find yet another version of – yeh Labour were really really bad so you can’t say anything.
I’m not saying you are always wrong, but i don’t get the point of simply deflecting criticism back onto Labour. If you agree with what is going on say so, or better still say what you think is a better way of going.
I for one don’t need reminding of what a balls up T Blair made of things.
Ed's Talking Balls
But perhaps a helpful reminder of the failings of G Brown wouldn’t go amiss…