Global firms 'are force for good'

The Conservative conference held a series of "hot topic" votes

Conservative activists have backed a motion claiming that global companies are a force for good.

The conference voted 69% in favour of the proposal to 31% against.

Leading the charge for the motion, ex-environment reporter Richard D North said corporations were able to do good works through being in business.

But opposer George Monbiot, a writer, said company giants should be made subservient to democracy: "Let's turn them back from masters to servants."

'Over-whelming' clout

He used the example of large out-of-town stores wiping out smaller, individual shops in urban centres, to highlight the damage large corporations can cause.

"Many local people have tried to stop this process taking place, but they have failed because they are confronted by this overwhelming power that's bigger than they are," he said.

The problem here is that the media corporations have begun to get the government to dance to their tune George Monbiot

The media could not be relied on to hold these organisations to account because they often depended on income from advertising and were themselves part of big global corporations.

"The problem here is that the media corporations have begun to get the government to dance to their tune," he said.

"They have become staggeringly powerful. When the Daily Mail says 'jump', then Tony Blair says 'off which high building'."

But a Tory representative, from Worcester, speaking in favour of the motion, said it was easy to attack big business, or people like US President George Bush.

He questioned whether a poor Thai or Vietnamese peasant toiling from dawn to dusk for very little would prefer to work for a native businessman or a multi-national company, where the pay and conditions were "better".

A Wiltshire party activist, against the move, said: "Profit making and free market is a very useful tool, but must be wielded by somebody who has a higher aim in mind."

The interactive poll was the last of a series of "hot topic" debates on issues ranging from considering a ban on marketing to children to cheap flights are a false economy.

The results will not become party policy but allow members to vote on issues that might not otherwise be discussed at political party conferences.