Tom Wills

Montage image. In the centre are two faces of white men. Background on the left shows a conference room with chairs and microphones, while above is a blurred image of documents and the word 'Sanctions'. Background on the right shows a landscape with smoke from explosions.

Sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman is suing Luxembourg for $16bn for freezing his assets. He's also suing the UK

This is just one example of how Russian oligarchs are using a secretive mechanism to undermine sanctions

#stopISDS #Ukraine

europeantradejustice.org/wp-content/u...

Delighted to have signed this, there's a web of cosy corruption between Mandelson, Palantir and Global Counsel which needs to be unpicked, as @petergeoghegan.bsky.social was saying on the @lrb.co.uk podcast

And when those companies can use ISDS to hold states over a barrel, the balance is further weighed in favour of fossil fuel capital.

Yes to all this - great piece looking at UK trade policy.

It's a vital area of our politics which has little MP oversight. That makes it uniquely vulnerable to corporate capture by some of the most irresponsible and polluting countries out there.

​​How British undemocracy lets big oil shape our trade policy - and drive climate crisis Long read: British trade deals are being used to protect fossil fuel company assets around the world, and MPs barely get a say

Around the world, fossil fuel companies are using British trade treaties to protect their climate-killing assets. And MPs have very little power to scrutinise the department pushing these deals.

A deep diving into corporate capture of British trade policy. By me:

open.substack.com/pub/abolishw...

Top end of TJM newsletter with logo and title (UK faces lawsuits from a Russian oligarch and coal mine investors via investment agreements)

Our December newsletter is out, with updates on:

• ⚖️ ISDS, including 2 cases against the UK 🤯
• 🇮🇳 UK–India trade talks
• 🪨 Critical minerals strategy
• 🗣️ Public attitudes to trade
• 🌐 Other trade justice news

👉https://mailchi.mp/da09533539e2/tjm-newsletter-october-21469804?e=596e56fafb

Trade and climate are deeply connected.

The COP29–30 Roadmap notes that older investment treaties with Investor–State Dispute Settlement (#ISDS) can limit climate action, with over USD 83bn already awarded in related cases.

Good to see this recognised at COP level.

unfccc.int/sites/defaul...

Cleodie Rickard, trade campaign manager at Global Justice Now said: “That allies of Putin can hold our government’s actions to ransom during Russia's illegal war on Ukraine is an outrage. This latest case against the UK government highlights the huge threat that corporate courts pose not only to sovereignty and democracy, but to security. Keeping Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in our trade and investment deals leaves the door open to preposterous claims by billionaire oligarchs and multinational corporations alike. And win or lose, it’s taxpayers here who will pick up the bill. This claim - alongside the second facing the UK for stopping a coal mine - should make it a no-brainer: the UK must follow other countries in getting rid of ISDS.”

"Keeping ISDS in our trade deals leaves the door open to preposterous claims by billionaire oligarchs and multinational corporations alike.

"Win or lose, it’s taxpayers here who will pick up the bill.

"The UK must follow other countries in getting rid of ISDS." - @cleodierickard.bsky.social

Great to see some moral clarity from @elliechowns.bsky.social and the @greenparty.org.uk on this 🙌

This is important - yet more evidence that the #ISDS system exists to guarantee corporate profits and completely disregards human rights and the environment.

In the UK, Labour should be emulating its sister parties in Aus and NZ by conducting a review of these agreements.

We've written to Keir Starmer today to highlight deep human rights concerns with the UK-Gulf trade agreement

“A fossil fuel company suing the UK Government over climate policies using an opaque system based on a decades-old agreement sounds like something from dystopian fiction... this case shows us that successful climate action will only be possible if the UK rejects the ISDS system."

I'm quoted in this article, making the case for the UK to reject the system of corporate courts which allow fossil fuel companies to sue governments over climate policies...

bylinetimes.com/2025/08/14/c...

You're correct - but of course how 'fairness' is defined in investment treaties (and interpreted by ISDS tribunals) is a far cry from how most folks would see it...

This is huge - the UK is being sued by a coal mining company for acting against fossil fuels.

This should be a wake up call for our government, we can't have climate action without dismantling the ISDS 'corporate courts' which exist in 80+ UK investment agreements.

Britain sued in ‘corporate court’ over quashing of coal mine in Cumbria  - Global Justice Now Claimants are being represented by Conservative MP and former attorney general Geoffrey Cox Lawsuit is the first known case under Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) against the UK since 2006 […]

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Britain is being SUED - all because the High Court rightly ruled that the Cumbria coal mine must not go ahead over its climate impacts.

Corporations should not be allowed to sue us for taking climate action! #EndISDS

www.globaljustice.org.uk/news/britain...

Image of the header and first few lines of the Trade Justice Movement's August newsletter. One year of Labour: continuity, not transformation.

Our August newsletter is out now!

• Labour’s first year: why its Trade Strategy still looks worryingly familiar
• US tariff threats to the Global South
• How the energy transition risks becoming a dirty deal
• Plus lots more updates

📩 Read it here: tinyurl.com/yrybbvre

Military diverting critical materials from renewables Campaigners say green transition must not be hijacked by military industries or used to undermine the economies of developing countries.

This is really important from @globaljusticenow.bsky.social - mining of 'critical minerals' is always framed as vital for the energy transition...but many of those minerals have no role in tackling climate change (and plenty of use in weapons/aerospace).

theecologist.org/2025/aug/07/...

Letter: Parliament must have a say on UK-US trade deal From Tom Wills, Director, Trade Justice Movement, London SW9, UK

Whatever trade deal is announced today by Trump, MPs will have no opportunity to approve it. Our system for approving treaties like this has been largely unchanged since the 1920s.

I'm in the @financialtimes.com highlighting this democratic deficit.

www.ft.com/content/0ef1...

Keir Starmer resists pressure to give MPs a vote on any US-UK trade deal Britain hopes to seal trio of trade accords in coming weeks as talks also continue with the EU and India

www.ft.com/content/faea...

Giving MPs a vote on a US trade deal is the very least we should expect from a serious government which values democracy and accountability. It's good to see Starmer getting called out on this.

"the suspicion must be that any deal that recommends itself to the “America First” Mr Trump and Mr Vance would not necessarily be advantageous to the British"

Notes that a US trade deal "could prove so politically toxic as to be unacceptable." (2/2)

If Starmer pulls off a trade deal with the US, he’ll seal his legacy Editorial: Although the prospect has seemed far from realistic in the past, JD Vance’s recent remarks suggest it could indeed be possible now

An editorial from @the-independent.com notes that huge political boost which Starmer could win by getting a trade deal with Trump. However, its conclusion is bang on... (1/2)

www.independent.co.uk/voices/edito...

Trump tariffs are ‘disaster’ for the world’s poorest countries US President Trump's new reciprocal tariffs will heavily impact some of the world's poorest countries, with rates up to 50%. These tariffs could undermine their labor-intensive export industries, push...

Barely reported today - the colossal impact of Trump's tariffs on wages, jobs and poverty levels in the Global South.

What's the justification for a 50% tariff on Lesotho?

economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/interna...

And if we get a trade deal, what then? The UK should ask Canada how seriously Trump takes commitments in trade agreements.

UK ministers are already falling over themselves to offer up juicy concessions in return for a tariff exemption: selling out the UK's AI regulation, giving up our ability to tax tech giants, further opening up our agricultural markets.

Once tariffs kick in, the UK will be even more desperate.

There's a huge focus on Trump's tariffs: will they hit the UK? How hard? Will the UK hit back?

This risks missing the point. What if they're only ever meant to back the UK into a corner, from which the US can secure a trade deal from a position of even greater strength?

Fantastic from @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social - doing a sterling job of trying to pin the government down on its position on ISDS.

And she's right - on trade issues we're yet to see much difference at all between this government and the last lot...

Surely the Labour government is not just going to follow on negotiating an India Free Trade Deal from where the Tories left off?

Surely? What about labour rights and environmental justice? What about #ISDS?
@tradejusticemov.bsky.social @waronwant.bsky.social

Fearing toxic waste, Greenland ended uranium mining. Now, they could be forced to restart - or pay $11bn The island is being sued by a mining company over its decision, and faces paying nine times its annual budget in damages if it loses

Great to see @theguardian.com/@patrickgreenfield.bsky.social cover this wild story of Greenland's government acting vs toxic mining, only to be hit with an $11bn lawsuit...

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Stop ISDS! Join @tradejusticemov.bsky.social in campaigning to dismantle the system.

Listen to Nick 👇. Great run down of the risks of a UK-India trade deal, to coincide with UK ministers jetting off to try to finalise the agreement.