Sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman is suing Luxembourg for $16bn for freezing his assets. He's also suing the UK This is just one example of how Russian oligarchs are using a secretive mechanism to undermine sanctions #stopISDS #Ukraine europeantradejustice.org/wp-content/u...

Delighted to have signed this, there's a web of cosy corruption between Mandelson, Palantir and Global Counsel which needs to be unpicked, as @petergeoghegan.bsky.social was saying on the @lrb.co.uk podcast

Yes to all this - great piece looking at UK trade policy. It's a vital area of our politics which has little MP oversight. That makes it uniquely vulnerable to corporate capture by some of the most irresponsible and polluting countries out there.

Around the world, fossil fuel companies are using British trade treaties to protect their climate-killing assets. And MPs have very little power to scrutinise the department pushing these deals. A deep diving into corporate capture of British trade policy. By me: open.substack.com/pub/abolishw...

Our December newsletter is out, with updates on: • ⚖️ ISDS, including 2 cases against the UK 🤯 • 🇮🇳 UK–India trade talks • 🪨 Critical minerals strategy • 🗣️ Public attitudes to trade • 🌐 Other trade justice news 👉https://mailchi.mp/da09533539e2/tjm-newsletter-october-21469804?e=596e56fafb

Trade and climate are deeply connected. The COP29–30 Roadmap notes that older investment treaties with Investor–State Dispute Settlement (#ISDS) can limit climate action, with over USD 83bn already awarded in related cases. Good to see this recognised at COP level. unfccc.int/sites/defaul...

"Keeping ISDS in our trade deals leaves the door open to preposterous claims by billionaire oligarchs and multinational corporations alike. "Win or lose, it’s taxpayers here who will pick up the bill. "The UK must follow other countries in getting rid of ISDS." - @cleodierickard.bsky.social

Great to see some moral clarity from @elliechowns.bsky.social and the @greenparty.org.uk on this 🙌

This is important - yet more evidence that the #ISDS system exists to guarantee corporate profits and completely disregards human rights and the environment. In the UK, Labour should be emulating its sister parties in Aus and NZ by conducting a review of these agreements.

We've written to Keir Starmer today to highlight deep human rights concerns with the UK-Gulf trade agreement

I'm quoted in this article, making the case for the UK to reject the system of corporate courts which allow fossil fuel companies to sue governments over climate policies... bylinetimes.com/2025/08/14/c...

This is huge - the UK is being sued by a coal mining company for acting against fossil fuels. This should be a wake up call for our government, we can't have climate action without dismantling the ISDS 'corporate courts' which exist in 80+ UK investment agreements.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨 Britain is being SUED - all because the High Court rightly ruled that the Cumbria coal mine must not go ahead over its climate impacts. Corporations should not be allowed to sue us for taking climate action! #EndISDS www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/britain...

Our August newsletter is out now! • Labour’s first year: why its Trade Strategy still looks worryingly familiar • US tariff threats to the Global South • How the energy transition risks becoming a dirty deal • Plus lots more updates 📩 Read it here: tinyurl.com/yrybbvre

This is really important from @globaljusticenow.bsky.social - mining of 'critical minerals' is always framed as vital for the energy transition...but many of those minerals have no role in tackling climate change (and plenty of use in weapons/aerospace). theecologist.org/2025/aug/07/...

Whatever trade deal is announced today by Trump, MPs will have no opportunity to approve it. Our system for approving treaties like this has been largely unchanged since the 1920s. I'm in the @financialtimes.com highlighting this democratic deficit. www.ft.com/content/0ef1...

www.ft.com/content/faea... Giving MPs a vote on a US trade deal is the very least we should expect from a serious government which values democracy and accountability. It's good to see Starmer getting called out on this.

An editorial from @the-independent.com notes that huge political boost which Starmer could win by getting a trade deal with Trump. However, its conclusion is bang on... (1/2) www.independent.co.uk/voices/edito...

Barely reported today - the colossal impact of Trump's tariffs on wages, jobs and poverty levels in the Global South. What's the justification for a 50% tariff on Lesotho? economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/interna...

And if we get a trade deal, what then? The UK should ask Canada how seriously Trump takes commitments in trade agreements.

There's a huge focus on Trump's tariffs: will they hit the UK? How hard? Will the UK hit back? This risks missing the point. What if they're only ever meant to back the UK into a corner, from which the US can secure a trade deal from a position of even greater strength?

Fantastic from @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social - doing a sterling job of trying to pin the government down on its position on ISDS. And she's right - on trade issues we're yet to see much difference at all between this government and the last lot...

Surely the Labour government is not just going to follow on negotiating an India Free Trade Deal from where the Tories left off? Surely? What about labour rights and environmental justice? What about #ISDS? @tradejusticemov.bsky.social @waronwant.bsky.social

Great to see @theguardian.com/@patrickgreenfield.bsky.social cover this wild story of Greenland's government acting vs toxic mining, only to be hit with an $11bn lawsuit... www.theguardian.com/environment/... Stop ISDS! Join @tradejusticemov.bsky.social in campaigning to dismantle the system.

Listen to Nick 👇. Great run down of the risks of a UK-India trade deal, to coincide with UK ministers jetting off to try to finalise the agreement.

🚨 The TJM January newsletter is out now! You'll find out more about: 🌍 Citizens' Assembly updates & global online launch (14 Jan) 🇨🇴 Colombia-UK treaty developments 📢 Member updates & opportunities 🔗 mailchi.mp/22dbb8f02b3c... To a hopeful and impactful 2025! ✍️ Sign up: tinyurl.com/ye2kt338

Welcoming myself to BlueSky 🤝 in the next year I'm hoping to post about the emergence of an ambitious and progressive UK trade strategy and the continued disintegration of the ISDS system, as well as anything else we get up to @tradejusticemov.bsky.social