The protest has been called to publicise the Iraq Procurement Conference 2004 which is taking place at a secret location in the capital. Paul will be speaking about the links between the conflict in Iraq, the War on Terror, increasing defence budgets and globalisation.
He will also address how the security agenda is being used as a cloak to drive commercial interests cushioned by government subsidies. Paul will also outline how the Green Party is challenging the wars and this support for corporations in government policy.
Paul Ingram said, "The corporate fight over the substantial scraps in Iraq is part of the global frenzy fed by a bloated US defence budget and military adventurism abroad. It is part of a massive transfer of money and power from the USA population to small Washington elite, mirrored in the microcosm in our own country."
Paul will be joined by a wide range of speakers from organisations such as the Union of Unemployed Iraqis, Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq, CAAT, Refugee Project, Stop Esso, Jubilee Iraq, Stop Esso Haifa Zangana and Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation.
The Iraq Procurement Conference 2004 has been organised by Windrush Communications and sponsored by Shell, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, Raytheon and many others offers participants the chance to meet with representatives of the Coalition Provisional Authority and the US Agency for International Development with the aim of forming partnerships and signing contracts. All prior to the handover to the new Iraqi government in July.
The corporate invasion of Iraq gathered pace in September as the US Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) issued a series of new laws concerning taxes, tariffs and foreign investment which, has effectively put Iraq up for sale.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
More information can be found on the following websites: www.voicesuk.org and www.iraqprocurement.com
Paul Ingram is No 2 on the European List for the Green Party in London. Paul, 36, lives in Southwark with his wife and baby son. He is former co-leader of Oxford City Council, where he was responsible for turning the finances of the council from a drastic overspend situation, appointing a new chief executive and senior management team, and modernising the council decision making structures (introducing Area Committees and devolving much of the Councils decision making to local communities. He was personally responsible for switching the council’s electricity consumption to green energy sources. Paul Ingram is also senior defence analyst for a London and Washington-based think-tank and frequently appears in the media for comment and analysis on current security issues. He is author of ‘The Subsidy Trap.’
The London Assembly and the European Parliament elections will be held on June 10th, the same day as the Mayoral Election… At the last Assembly elections the Greens scored one of their best ever results in the Party’s history, securing 11.1% of the vote across London and winning three seats on the 25-member Assembly.
Darren Johnson’s vision for a sustainable Green London can be found on his website www.johnsonformayor.org.uk