CAMPAIGNERS in recent years have stepped up their efforts to ensure that the public sector behaves ethically.
Calls have been made for fair pay and transparency in decision-making, but social justice activists have also led the way in highlighting unethical investments.
Public sector pension funds - worth billions of pounds - have been at the forefront of campaigns. These funds invest in companies, generate returns and help provide retirement incomes for millions of scheme members.
However, waves of revelations have also shown that funds have invested in firms that do huge damage to the planet and society, such as tobacco, fossil fuel, and arms giants.
Universities have responded to concerns in the past by promising to ‘divest’ of problematic holdings, and the Scottish Parliament has also come under pressure.
Companies based in Russia should be the next focus. The recent attempted murders of Sergei Skripal and his daughter were almost certainly carried out by Vladmir Putin’s appalling regime. It was the latest provocation in a long list of hostile acts, such as the illegal annexation of Ukraine and tampering with the US presidential election.
Existing US and EU sanctions on Russian firms and individuals should be deepened. They should be applied to the key pillars of the Russian economy, which would be a more substantive response than expelling diplomats.
And the campaign of divestment should be honed so that any sanctioned Russian firms are not contributing to our pensions. It is time to hit Russia in the wallet.
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