home >> LATEST NEWS >> May 10, 2013
The StopG8 group has released a map of "the capitalist West End", showing targets for its day of action on June 11 (#J11), ahead of the G8 summit being held in the UK. The map is available on a PDF. There is also an online map, hosted on Corporate Watch's new website, Mapping the Corporations, which features more details and even more addresses. It is still being updated. To check in for latest progress go to mappingthecorporations.org and select 'Mapping Capitalist London' in the sector menu.
Stop G8 made the following statement:
"London is at the heart of global capitalism. It is one of the main hubs of a worldwide system of money and power. Deals made here build factories in Asia, burn down forests in South America, and start wars in Africa. For billionaires, dictators, and other parasites London is a safe place to hide out, launder money, and go shopping. These people are not untouchable. They are right here on our doorstep, and they have names and addresses.
We now live in a globalised economy. Factories in Asia make goods using raw materials from Africa, South America and the Middle East, which are sold (on credit) to European consumers. The UK produces little: a factory here can’t compete with a Bangladeshi sweatshop where wages are pitiful and life is cheap. In the 1980s and 90s the UK economy shifted away from manufacturing to money management, and is now almost entirely based on debt and on London’s role as a financial middleman.
No longer the capital of a powerful country, London thrives as a money-laundering centre for the new global elites. It attracts international wealth with its banking infrastructure, established networks, minimal tax and regulation, historic prestige, and tame population. As the city’s role changes, its landscape is transformed. The valuable real estate in the centre is socially cleansed and secured with private guards, gated areas, and CCTV, pushing us out to the forgotten fringes.
London has three main economic power centres. In two of them, the City and Canary Wharf, the big banks shout their power with glass skyscrapers and neon corporate logos. But much of the power in London is quietly concentrated in the old elite areas of the West End. Here deals are done in whispers, behind unmarked doors."
