Join us in the fight for economic justice and an end to global poverty.

Thanks for emailing! Just one more thing...

Thanks for sending an email to Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority. Your email will help remind the FSA that it needs to act in the interest of the public on the issue of food speculation. 

One more thing…

We want the FSA to really feel the impact of public pressure, so would you be able to follow up your email with a phone call?

The phone number is 020 7066 1000.

We understand that this might be a daunting thing to do, but it only needs to be a very quick call. And if you are going to do it, it's probably best to do it straight away while you remember. 

Things you might want to say when you call

  • You are following up on an email you’ve just sent to Lord Turner
  • You are really concerned about food speculation which is driving high prices and fuelling hunger and poverty across the world
  • They need to put the public interest over the interests of the banks 
  • They need to ask the government to support ‘position limits’ in EU discussions. (Position limits are the most the effective way to tackle food speculation as it limits the amount that financial speculators can bet on food prices)

A few other things to consider

  • The FSA lobbying for industry was covered in the Guardian recently.
  • The UN and OECD said last year: 'Almost all researchers agree that non-commercial participation [ie financial speculation] in futures markets may amplify price movements [ie exacerbate price spikes] in the short term.'
  • In the last six months of 2010 alone, 44 million people were pushed into extreme poverty by rising food prices – equivalent to two in every three people in the UK. 
  • The average UK household’s food bill has risen by £134 in the last year. 

But remember that the person you speak to will probably be a receptionist, so don't get into a long discussion. The main thing is for them to tell their bosses that lots of people have been calling about this. 

It would be really good for us to know how many people have made the call and how it went. So, once you've called please leave a comment below telling us how you got on!


Rang up and got sent to

Posted by Barbara Adair (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 14:24.
Rang up and got sent to someone else who said "I'll pass you through and when asked, press one"  Which I did, and then got passed to someone else and pressed one again and later pressed five, and the guy who answered obviously didn't knpow what I was talking about.  Sad.

Just rang up the complaints

Posted by Nick (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 13:32.
Just rang up the complaints line to raise my concers about the FSA's lack of public consultation on the issue food speculation and asking them to tell the government to support position limits. Receptionist was very helpful and told me that she would pass the message on to Lord Turner's office, and confirm that he'd seen my email. It might also be worth emailing his PA at adair.turner@fsa.gov.uk  to really drive the message home

The receptionist was friendly

Posted by Andrew Morris (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 13:30.
The receptionist was friendly - said that many people had been calling and that, although Lord Turner was at a meeting and unavailable for comment,  the FSA was aware of people's concerns and would be looking into how best to respond.

I just called and the

Posted by Kesewa John (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 13:23.
I just called and the switchboard operator was really friendly - had had a lot of similar phone calls.  They offered to put me through to the helpline to discuss it further.  Told me they'd had lots of calls and emails, but would respond to them all.  Lord Turner's out of the office today but his PA has got all the emails and they will be responded to.  She also asked about the article in question, and how to find it.     

i rang up and said about

Posted by Mario (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 13:16.
i rang up and said about this, the person on the line passed me through to someone who was completely useless. he then tried to fobb me off on someother department, to which i replied isnt this what ur department does, he had no answer, so to me it seems like their own staff know the organization is a joke. 

Telephonist told me that Lord

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 13:10.
Telephonist told me that Lord Turner had received a lot of emails on the subject of food speculation and the role of the FSA.  He was not in the office but his secretary was "dealing" with them.  I asked if he could be informed that I had phoned and she said that the secretary was trying to work out how to respond to the calls!

I also was told to talk to

Posted by Linda Walker (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 13:01.
I also was told to talk to Customer Services who took my details and then managed to cut me off. I had already told them that I was horrified by the role of banks in driving up food prices by speculation and that the role of the FSA should be to curb this not appear to be encouraging it. The receptionist had said that loads of people were calling.

I rang and got through to a

Posted by Kate Griffin (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 12:54.
I rang and got through to a receptionist who had no idea what I was talking about. She put me through to the customer services line and I pressed 1, then 5 on the automatic system. The guy I spoke to also had no idea what I was talking about and thought I might have confused them with the Food Standards Agency! I assured them that I was talking about the financial markets and commodity speculation. He said the FSA's remit has nothing to do with the global food markets and I said that was all the more reason not to meddle in them on behalf of the banks. He repeated that the FSA doesn't regulate global food markets and I said "I wish you did!" He asked where I got this information from and I said it was from an article in the Guardian and helped him find the article online. He offered to put me through to someone else who might know more about it, because it's not really within the scope of the customer services department, but this would have involved more time on hold and I was waiting for another call so I just asked him to register my call. He did so and took some of my details.

Just made the call. I

Posted by Hides (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 10:55.
Just made the call. I mentioned my email and also today's Guardian article. The guy who answered the phone was trying hard to understand the nature of my complaint! In the end he told me to contact my MP and also told me to contact their consumer enquiries (which I don't think is very helpful!). Anyway, I told him I wanted him to log this call and make sure his bosses know that the FSA have to support the public interest over the banks' interest. Hope more people also make the call!  

Success! The friendly

Posted by Kathryn (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 10:40.
Success! The friendly receptionist gave me the FSA complaint's line so that I can voice my concerns about their involvement with the financial lobby. I'm about to make the call! Their details are - 020 7066 9870 or email complaints@fsa.gov.uk. Hopefully more people can do the same.

I made the key points, the

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 10:15.
I made the key points, the receptionist took down my name then disappeared. I waited a few minutes then hung up.

I made the key points,

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on 19 Jun 2012 at about 10:14.
I made the key points, receptionist took down my name then disappeared.

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