The Guardian (London) | By Thomas Tritton and Justin Forsyth | June 26, 2003
So Monbiot realises that the WTO is needed, albeit in a different form. The problem is that he and his ilk have been screaming vengeance against it for years. Where's the guarantee that he won't revert to his former position as quickly as he appears to have abandoned it? Those of us who work in international finance and yet consider ourselves to be on the left were saying years ago that a supra-national framework would be needed to create the necessary conditions for fair trade, and that it appeared we had ready-made bodies in the IMF and the WTO. We were shouted down, not because our argument was flawed but because the radical left needed its corporate bete noirs to rail against. I congratulate Monbiot for seeing the point, and only hope that others pause in their drumming of the barricades long enough to see sense, too.
Thomas Tritton
London
As Tony Blair pours milk on to his cornflakes, he should stop and think about where his semi-skimmed comes from and where else it is going. Encouraged by the common agricultural policy, Europe's farmers produce rivers of milk that no one has the appetite for. Instead of pouring it down the sink, we dump our left-overs on the developing world, undermining local dairy farmers who cannot compete against our artificially cheaper milk.
This is a crisis that Blair has shied away from. Today European agricultural ministers meet yet again to try and reform this pounds 30bn CAP elephant. Europe's failure to get its agricultural policies into shape could well derail the world trade talks that begin in September. If Blair is serious about helping the poor, he must push for an agreement on agriculture before it is too late. So far, these negotiations have been a disaster for the poor, for small farmers, for the environment, for taxpayers, and for the credibility of the EU as a forward-looking institution.
Justin Forsyth
Policy director, OxfamThe Guardian (London):
