Huge Public Opposition To Basic Principles Of The World Trade Organisation

Globalisation has hit the headlines in recent months, with the demonstrations in Seattle late last year and, over the last few days, at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington. But public opinion has rarely been sought on the subject.

Now, a new public opinion poll shows that the British have strong and clear views on the principles of global trade-unions - and that very large majorities oppose some of the key principles of the World Trade Organisation, and the current global economic system.

The poll, published in the May 2000 issue of The Ecologist, the world's most widely-read environmental magazine, was carried out by MORI. Key findings include:

89% of the public believe that governments should have the right to ban imports of goods which they believe may be damaging to the health of the population. This right is currently denied to the government under WTO rules, which have prevented the British government from banning the import of beef from the US injected with a potentially cancer-causing hormone.

90% of the public believe that, when a conflict of interest arises between the interests of environmental protection and multinational companies, environmental protection should come first. Only 1% explicitly disagree. WTO dispute panels have already weakened a number of national environmental protection laws.

Commenting on these results, and others in the poll, The Ecologist's editor, Zac Goldsmith, said:

"These results show more than anything else that there is a stark dichotomy between the government and the people of Britain on the vital issue of world trade-unions. The WTO has tremendous power, and yet not once has there been a vote on its agenda. Now it is clear that a stunning majority of the British public reject that agenda."

Technical details

MORI interviewed a nationally representative sample of 982 adults, between 17-21 February 2000. Data was weighted to reflect national population profile.