How 38 Degrees members helped stop TTIP

by Nat Whalley Aug 31st, 2016

“TTIP has failed”. That’s the verdict from Germany’s economic minister. [1] It’s looking like the end of the road for the dodgy trade deal that would’ve put our democracy and NHS at risk. Last night, politician after politician came out to declare the deal as good as dead. [2]

This could be big. And in part, it’s thanks to us. For over two years, 38 Degrees members have thrown everything at stopping this deal:

• Hundreds of thousands of us added our names to gigantic EU-wide petitions against the deal – 718,636 of us, to be exact
• Over 50,000 of us wrote into the EU consultation on TTIP – so many that we ended up crashing the EU’s website
• 38 Degrees members chipped in a grand total of £275,699 to spend on newspaper ads to raise awareness of TTIP. We plastered our message everywhere from the Telegraph to the Sunderland Echo
• We sent almost a million emails to our MPs, MEPs, Members of the Scottish parliament and even to the President of the EU. In June last year, we persuaded over half our MEPs to vote against giving corporations the right to sue our government – one of the worst parts of the deal
• Together, we raised £195,664 to pay for millions of leaflets telling the public about the dangers of TTIP
• Two years ago this week, thousands of us went out across towns, villages and cities in England talking to members of the public about TTIP. Since then, we’ve taken to the streets with groups across the UK and Europe for four more days of action to spread the word about the dangers of TTIP
• 186,505 people have helped shape the 38 Degrees TTIP campaign, taking part in polls and surveys to make sure our plan to stop TTIP was as strong as possible
• And 38 Degrees members raised £98,042 to donate to campaign groups across Europe to help them fight TTIP in their countries [3]

We’ve almost won this battle. TTIP is on its last legs. But there are so many more fights ahead of us. Already, the EU is close to agreeing a similar dodgy deal with Canada (known as ‘CETA’) which could come into force before we leave the EU. [4]

And in the next year our government will start to negotiate new trade deals with countries from China to the US to Brazil. If these trade deals are good ones, they could make Britain more prosperous and protect the things that matter – our NHS, our democracy, the environment.

But if they’re bad, they’d be like “TTIP on steroids”. They could put our NHS at risk, allow corporations to use secret courts to sneak around our democracy, and let businesses pollute our rivers and air. [5]

The last two years have been tough. It hasn’t always seemed possible to stop a global trade deal. But people power – emails to our MPs, a fiver donated, 50 petition signatures collected on a clipboard – has worked. And if we can bring TTIP to its knees, we know we can stop more deals like TTIP in their tracks.

NOTES:
[1] Telegraph: EU’s TTIP trade deal with the US has collapsed, says Germany:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/08/28/eus-ttip-trade-deal-with-the-us-has-collapsed-says-germany/
[2] Independent: TTIP negotiations should stop, French government says:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ttip-negotiations-should-stop-french-government-says-a7216366.html
BBC: TTIP in further doubt as Hollande questions timing:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37220701?ocid=socialflow_twitter
Yahoo News: France rules out imminent EU-US trade deal, wants talks halted:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/france-call-end-talks-eu-us-trade-deal-060948601.html
[3] To read about all the amazing things 38 Degrees members have done together to fight TTIP check out the 38 Degrees blog:
https://home.38degrees.org.uk/?s=ttip
[4] The Guardian: Think TTIP is a threat to democracy? There’s another trade deal that’s already signed:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/30/ttip-trade-deal-agreements-ceta-eu-canada
[5] Independent: ‘TTIP on steroids’: Campaigners warn post-Brexit UK faces ‘disastrous’ trade deal with US:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ttip-brexit-uk-steroids-disastrous-global-justice-now-war-on-want-a7099986.html