We were horrified to hear recently that the Cumbrian Mining Company is suing the British Government for not allowing their proposed coal mine to go ahead in west Cumbria, and that the lawyer representing the company is a Conservative MP! One of our members sent this letter to her own Conservative MP about it - you might like to use her wording to contact your own MP, particularly if they are Conservative.
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Dear [MP’s name]
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9391205znwo
I am writing to let you know that the British Government is currently being sued by the Cumbrian Mining Company over the High Court and Coal Authority decision to decline its proposal to build a coal mine in west Cumbria. The Coal Authority found that its proposal was not financially viable and that substantial damage could be caused to land and property in the vicinity. It was also not the case that the coal potentially mined could be used domestically to help generate electricity in this country, as the High Court judgement established that the west Cumbrian coal has too high a sulphur content ever to be used domestically. It was simply an unworkable proposal which was rightly refused by experts in the coal mining business, which the company should have taken away to have a rethink and come up with something more acceptable.
Instead, they seem to have been encouraged to take the UK Government to court under the Investor-state-dispute settlement (ISDS) scheme also known as corporate courts for compensation.
This has been possible because their holding companies have been based in Singapore and there is a UK/Singapore treaty with an ISDS clause.
https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/corporate-courts-2/
These disputes are not heard in any recognisable and accountable national or international courts but in rather secretive “pop-up” tribunals which have previously been used against countries in the Global South who have been trying to protect their land and communities against destructive mining and other extractive activities undertaken by multinational companies. Global Justice Now has been lobbying governments for many years about these arrangements which effectively are allowing industries which have no viable future in a climate change affected future economy to claim compensation for destructive activities.
In the light of this I was rather surprised to find out that it is the current Conservative MP for Torridge and Taverstock, Sir Geoffrey Cox, the former Attorney General, who is acting for the West Cumbrian Mining Company against the UK government. I find it difficult to understand why Sir Geoffrey is seeking to get compensation for a company proposal which was turned down by the High Court having heard all the evidence on both sides. I would hope the plea is rejected but if upheld the government could be liable for fines running into thousands of pounds – money which
would have to come out of our taxes and would not be available for NHS and other essential spending.
I gather Sir Geoffrey earns more than any other MP from outside earnimgs and would no doubt claim a significant proportion of any settlement for his own bank balance. I have always found it difficult to understand how MPs can do a proper full-time job for their constituents while working many hours outside Parliament and sometimes abroad. I suspect that once a date is fixed for this corporate court hearing, the Whips will get very few votes out of Sir Geoffrey until it is finished.
I had always thought that the Conservative Party was rather in favour of patriotic activity which benefits the country and so I fail to understand why a British Conservative MP should find it necessary, other than for personal gain, to sue his own government for upholding a High Court judgement on behalf of a failed mining company which could not come up with a viable and financially acceptable proposal. Are there no rules against this sort of behaviour by MPs?
I would ask you to do two things.
Please write to Peter Kyle Secretary of State for Business and Trade and ask him to ensure that ISDS clauses are not included in future trade deals as they can be used without justification against the British Government for any action that a company considers is against its interests via unaccountable corporate courts.
Then, please write to your fellow MP, Sir Geoffrey Cox and ask when the case against the UK Government is likely to take place and why he thinks the Cumbrian Mining Company deserves compensation for its failed application for a proposed mine whose coal could not be used in this country.
Yours sincerely,
[Name and address]
