- guardian.co.uk, Sunday April 20 2003 03.29 BST
- The Observer, Sunday April 20 2003
Britain's top companies face having their annual general meetings disrupted in a concerted three-month campaign by environmental and human rights groups.
Barclays, Tesco, BP, Balfour Beatty and BAE are among the blue-chip firms whose boards will be forced to publicly answer a variety of allegations, ranging from environmental destruction in some cases to bribery and the mistreatment of Third World people in others.
The campaign is led by Friends of the Earth, whose members have become shareholders in 18 leading UK companies. It began last week, when directors of British American Tobacco, including former Chancellor Kenneth Clark, had to answer embarrassing questions about BAT's activities in Burma.
This was followed by Rio Tinto's AGM last Thursday, when the mining company was barracked for alleged pollution. All the companies deny wrongdoing.
Shell's AGM in London this Wednesday is the campaigners' next target. Community representatives from South Africa, the Philippines, Nigeria and the US, who claim their health is being damaged by local Shell refineries, will seek to put pressure on the oil giant's directors. Among those attending will be residents of Port Arthur, Texas, where a Shell plant suffered a chemical leak last week.
Friends of the Earth will also table questions at the AGMs of Sainsbury, P&O and BA in the coming months.
