Parliament For Sale In MAI Action

On Tuesday 20 October, the date that the Multilateral Agreement on Investment negotiations recommenced in Paris, a group going by the name of DIS-MAI attempted to sell off parliament to the multinationals. Politicians are already under the thumb of the corporations but the MAI would further institutionalise their dominance. Some dressed up as corporations; Shell, Monsanto, McDonalds, News International, Nestle and British Aerospace. An auctioneer with his megaphone and gavel then proceeded to sell off various government departments which were represented by puppets having the faces of the, Peter Mandelson, Tony Blair, David Blunkett, John Prescott etc. The proud multinational owners of these government puppets were then able to manipulate them as they liked. Redundancy notices were also handed out to people going into parliament. They carried on for about an hour, even attracting a few coins from passing benevolent souls!

DIS-MAI: 0171 607 2302.

* Meanwhile in Paris , 150 activists from around the world occupied the offices of the International Chamber of Commerce, which represents multinational companies and has been instrumental in pushing the MAI through. The good news is that talks on the MAI have now broken down irretrievably at the OECD, but expect an MAI clone to appear from the World Trade Organisation soon...