WDM blog

James Angel, campaigns and policy intern

Remember 2008? After decades of unchecked greed and corruption, the neoliberal house of cards finally toppled over, leaving us with the worst economic crisis since the great depression. The big banks have been gambling with our money for years but, as we all know, the costs of the crisis – the unemployment, the lost homes, the austerity measures – have been borne by us. 

Amy Horton, Food campaigner

Soon after it got light on Saturday morning, I set off from a tiny chalet, lugging my bags through a blizzard down a snowy track impassable to cars. The bags were heavier than when I’d arrived, because I was carrying an award. The previous day, Barclays – the UK’s biggest food speculator – had declined to show up to the Public Eye Awards to collect its prize for being the world’s worst corporation. Following WDM’s nomination, Barclays was selected by a jury, while the ‘winner’ of a second prize decided by over 90,000 voters was mining giant Vale.

Kirsty Wright, climate campaigner

The Durban UN climate talks saw a repetition of the pattern of injustice and inaction of previous climate talks, with rich countries protecting their own interests and those of multinational industries over those of people.

Liz Murray, head of Scottish campaigns

It’s heartening to hear that President Obama has stood up to Big Oil by rejecting the permit for the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline sought by Canadian oil firm TransCanada. But the global campaign to stop the tar sands must continue.