Celebrities call for better corporate accountability

Celebrities including Thom Yorke, Joanna Lumley and Emma Thompson will call on the government to make UK companies more accountable for their impacts on poor people and the global environment today, in an open letter to MPs in Tuesday’s Guardian.

The letter urges MPs to back amendments to the Companies Bill which would make companies accountable for their social and environmental impacts. The Bill is due to receive its third reading in the House of Commons this week.

The letter references cases concerning Tesco’s workers rights records on fruit farms in South Africa, as well as a recent ActionAid report which detailed alleged environmental and human rights abuses by a subsidiary of UK mining giant Anglo-American at their operation in Ghana.

Julian Oram, head of trade and corporates at ActionAid, said, "The case for making companies more accountable is a compelling one. We want to see UK PLC reaching its full potential in terms of improving the lives of millions around the world."

Full list of signatories: Rose Gray, Anita Roddick, Benjamin Zephaniah, Emma Thompson, Fay Ripley, Gail Porter, Gordon Ramsay, Hugh Dennis, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, James Purefoy, Jan Ravens, Jenny Seagrove, Jo Brand, Joanna Lumley, John Hegley, Pete Poselthwaite, Ralph Feinnes, Saffron Burrows, Shazia Mirza, Thom Yorke, Tony Benn, Trudie Styler.