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There has been an incredible response to our End the Vulture Culture campaign. From Glastonbury to US Congress see how the word has spread.

20 April - UN expert welcomes Vultures Law

The UN expert on foreign debt and human rights, Cephas Lumina, has welcomed the UK's new vulture funds law, and said he hopes it will produce a positive ripple effect, with other countries passing similar laws. "From a human rights perspective, the settlement of excessive vulture fund claims by poor countries with unsustainable debt levels has a direct negative effect on the capacity of governments of these countries to fulfill their human rights obligations, especially economic, social and cultural rights, such as the rights to health, water and sanitation, food, housing and education,” he said. Full press release >>  

19 April - Royal Assent

For anyone curious about what Royal Assent actually is, you can watch the moment the Bill became an Act on 7 April here. There are several at once and the whole process takes a couple of minutes or you can skip forward to here. 

15 April - Vultures in the manifestos

Vulture funds have been mentioned in both the Labour and Liberal Democrat manifestos with both pledging to continue the fight against them. Labour says it plans to continue "building on legislation to clampdown on vulture funds" with the Liberal Democrats saying they will "take measures against ‘vulture funds’ and lobby for similar action at international level".

You can read what all the political parties say about fighting global poverty on the Vote Global website >>

12 April - More reactions to the Vultures Bill

Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed Church leaders celebrated the Bill and the positive effects it will have on poverty in the world's poorest countries  Dr Richard Vautrey, Vice President of the Methodist Conference said. “We are pleased that our politicians have woken up to the injustice of private companies using UK courts to make a profit out of the poorest people in our world”. However they also highlighted the importance of keeping an eye on the Bill in case it is threatened by the sunset clause.

Jubilee Zambia are also celebrating and are urging the "USA and other Western Countries to emulate the British Government and ban Vulture Funds".

Meanwhile, Reuters blogger, Felix Salmon who has previously strongly criticised the campaign against vulture funds, arguing that the funds actually help developing countries to raise money appears to have warmed to the bill a little and has admitted that "it might conceivably do some good at the margin".

9 April - Reaction to the Vultures Law

The key thing about the wash-up - the process of selecting some bills to put through parliament with cross-party support at the end of the parliamentary session - is that the negotiations over which bills go forward take place behind closed doors (a process which has been heavily criticised). So we'll probably never know how it happened that the Vultures Bill got picked to be brought back. Nevertheless, politicians have made some interesting comments on the passage of the law.

Firstly, Andrew Mitchell, Conservative Shadow International Development Secretary, has released a statement saying: "At Conservative insistence, this bill was included in the wash-up. We are delighted that the bill, as amended by the Conservative frontbench, has gone through. Labour's attempt to set up an artificial dividing line over a matter of great importance to some of the poorest people in the world is regrettable, and all people of goodwill will be glad that it has backfired." Meanwhile, Douglas Alexander has written to campaigners who asked the Labour Party to support the Bill to say "Make no mistake, it was in the face of public opinion that Conservative MPs had to drop their objection to this bill."

As the election approaches, the fact is that all parties supported the Vultures law going through yesterday. We'll be putting out our assessment of where each party stands on other debt issues shortly. But for the time being you may be interested in reading the debates on the Bill: the Second Reading in the House of Commons, the Third Reading in the Commons, and yesterday's debate in the Lords. You can also check out whether your MP signed EDM 618, EDM 1085 or last year's EDM 1440 in support of a Vultures Law.

8 April - YOU DID IT: It's through the Lords!

Just after 2.30pm, the House of Lords passed the Vulture Funds Bill through its remaining stages, meaning there's only the formality of Royal Assent to go before it becomes law.

Read our press release here >>
Read the Lords debate here >>

8 April - Vultures Bill goes to the Lords

It's make or break day for the Vulture Funds Bill today. It's on the list for the House of Lords, but there are quite a few bills to get through and it's at the bottom of the list. It could also still be scuppered by an amendment, which would mean it needs to go back to the Commons and might not have time to receive to be agreed there and receive Royal Assent. There is more info about the formal stages a law has to go through here. We're expecting the Bill to be debated at about 6pm or 6.30pm, though it could be earlier. You can watch the House of Lords live here.

1.30PM UPDATE: They've got down the list to the Bill before, so it could be any time now.

You can also read the debate from the House of Commons on the Bill yesterday here. Highlights include Sally Keeble MP's call that "Opposition members have to make up their minds about which side they are on", front-bench support from all three parties, and supportive speeches from Mark Oaten MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman MP and John Battle MP. Keep clicking 'Next' in the bottom left to see the whole debate.

7 April - Vulture Funds Bill passes Commons; on track to become law this week 

The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons today. This means it only has to pass through the House of Lords tomorrow afternoon to become law.

This is an extraordinary turn around of events. It is almost unheard of for a Private Members' Bill to become law in the 'wash-up' procedure at the end of a Parliamentary session. We'll bring you some of the highlights of today's debate as soon as it's published.

6 April - SUCCESS: Government announces vulture bill to go forward this week

The Government has just announced that the vultures bill - the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill - will be included in the 'wash-up' which takes place before the General Election. The 'wash up' is a mechanism through which the party whips agree to take forward bills in the final days before a Parliament is dissolved for a General Election.

This means there is cross-party support for taking the bill forward and means it has a real chance of becoming law this week. We will keep reporting on proceedings in Parliament in coming days.   

28 March - SUCCESS: Labour makes manifesto commitment

The Government has today announced that it will make a manifesto commitment to pass a Vulture Funds law early in the next Parliament. Read the full story in the Observer and also our press release.

26 March - More discussion on fate of Vultures Bill

The fate of the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill was again raised in Parliament today in questions to Leader of the House Harriet Harman MP, who decides the Parliamentary timetable. Lib Dem David Heath MP and Labour MPs Sally Keeble and Sir Gerald Kaufman asked whether the Bill could still pass in the wash-up at the end of the Parliamentary session, if it achieves cross-party support. It was also raised in points of order to the Speaker, where Conservative Shadow Leader of the House George Young claimed the Conservative front-bench still supported the Bill.

22 March - Labour Party survey on Vulture Funds

The Labour Party is asking what they should do next about Vulture Funds. They've put a survey up on their website with three possible priorities - two of them worthy aspirations, but only one of them a concrete step which will bring real change. Please vote now for 'Commit to quickly introducing a law in the UK to clamp down on vulture funds following a general election'.

22 March - Chris Chope claims he's a scapegoat

The Bournemouth Daily Echo has a report today where Christopher Chope MP backtracks on his admission that it was him who blocked the Vulture Funds Bill. He also claims that he's been made a scapegoat for the death of the Bill, and "confirmed that he had not faced any backlash from the Conservative head office over the incident." Read the full story

19 March - President of Guyana support Vultures Law

Statement by His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo, President of the Republic of Guyana:

"The Government and People of Guyana are indeed thankful to the international community who have supported the country's development agenda... The debt relief obtained by Guyana has enabled our people to escape an unsustainable debt burden.

However, driven by greed and callousness, a number of vulture funds prey on poor countries and put in jeopardy the progress made by such countries... Having faced lawsuits from commercial creditors in the past, Guyana is well aware of the disastrous consequences which can spring from such litigation.

I therefore wish to publicly support the passage of the Debt Relief Bill in the Parliament of the United Kingdom which will help to prevent vulture funds from reversing the tremendous progress by countries such as Guyana towards the Millennium Development Goals."

18 March - Ask all parties to commit to the Vultures Law

It's positive that there's been greater political interest in vulture funds in the last week. But with the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill now looking destined to run out of time, we need all parties to commit to introducing a law after the election:
Email the Labour Party >>
Email the Conservatives >>
Email the Liberal Democrats >>

Meanwhile, over 70 MPs have now signed EDM 1085 calling for more time for the Bill. Over 210 MPs signed the original EDM 618 in support of the Bill. There's still time for your MP to sign both motions. Email them via http://www.writetothem.com.

18 March - Government fails to give Bill more time

This morning in Parliament David Heath MP, Lib Dem Shadow Leader of the House, and Gerald Kaufman MP, Labour MP for Manchester Gorton, who has been very supportive of the Vulture Funds Bill, quizzed Harriet Harman on whether more time would be given to the Vultures Bill. While repeating the Government's position that Conservative opposition to the Bill was the problem, she made no commitment to providing further time before the election. So there now seems to be no realistic hope it'll be passed before the election (it still has to get through third reading in the House of Commons, and then all stages in the Lords).

18 March - Labour and Conservatives exchange letters over Vulture funds

Following Douglas Alexander's letter to David Cameron last Friday, Conservative Treasury Minister David Gauke has responded. Read both letters >>

17 March - 50 MPs sign EDM calling for more Government Time

50 MPs have signed Sally's Keeble's Early Day Motion calling for more Government time for the Bill. But it's not looking good.

17 March - Congo calls for creditors not to sell to the vultures

In the midst of all this it's useful to be reminded of why we need this bill in the first place. The Democratic Republic of Congo, which has $11 billion of mostly illegitimate debt knowingly lent to the dictator Mobutu Seso Seko, is due to receive 90% debt cancellation in June. Today the country's Debt Management Office has pleaded with creditors, including the First International Bank of Israel, not to sell these debts on to vulture funds.

17 March - Will the Treasury take up the Bill?

We're still waiting to discover whether there's life in this bill yet. But in the mean time it would be helpful to email Liam Byrne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, saying you support the Treasury taking up this bill. Email byrnel@parliament.uk. You could say:

Dear Liam Byrne MP,

The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill is a very important bill and I would strongly encourage the Treasury to take it up as a Government Bill, in order to get it through the House of Commons before the election. I am very disappointed that it was blocked at third reading last week.

Yours sincerely, 

16 March - Email Harriet Harman

Following today's clarification from the Conservative Party (see below), we're calling on Harriet Harman, the Leader of the House, to make time for the Bill on Thursday this week, when it's next listed for debate. It needs to be promoted to official 'Government time' to have a decent chance of being passed. Take action >>

16 March - Conservative Party responds

Today we've received a response from George Osborne's office to our call for clarification on the Conservative Party's position on the Bill. He says "The Conservative frontbench did not object to further progress of the Debt Relief Bill on Friday 12 March 2010, nor in any way collude with the objection. The Bill is due to be debated this Thursday and we are willing to co-operate with the Government to allow this Bill to progress on that day." Read it here in full.

15 March - Two new ways to help

A supporter has set up a new Facebook group, Shame On You Christopher Chope for blocking the Debt Relief Bill. And there's a petition on the Downing Street petition site. Our email actions are still the most useful, but the Number 10 petition can't hurt if you want to do more. See also Greg Palast's response to Friday's news, 'Vulture Vomit Kills Bill'.

14 March - Was it Christopher Chope MP?

The Independent is reporting that Christopher Chope MP blocked the Bill. But we are still concerned that he did so with authorisation from Conservative Party whips - whose job is to ensure that MPs vote with the party line. So our email action to David Cameron still stands.

13 March - Conservative MP blocks Vultures Bill

The Vulture Funds Bill was blocked at its third reading today after a single Conservative MP shouted 'object'. Amazingly, we don't know which one of three MPs huddled together, including two party Whips, made the call. We've got two new actions: please ask David Cameron who killed the bill, and ask the Government to make more time for it in Parliament.

12 March - Vultures Amendment Overturned

The amendment proposed by Tory MP Philip Davies was overturned this morning by the speaker and the Bill will have its third reading today in the House of Commons. It is sixth on today's list and is due to be discussed early this afternoon. Watch it live here!

12 March - Activists Demonstrate in Shipley

A group of activists protested outside Philip Davies' office in Shipley today to protest at his attempt to stop the vultures bill. He also recieved a barrage of emails from angry campaigners.

11 March - Philip Davies attempts to stop Bill

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley has introduced an amendment to the Vultures Bill which would effectively see the legislation thrown out of Parliament.  JDC's campaigers are working hard to put pressure on him to withdraw it. Read more in The Guardian and Ekklesia .

10 March - Desmond Tutu and Former President of Tanzania Support Bill 

The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill has received support from around the world.  Last Thursday Nobel Peace Laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu sent a message to Jubilee Debt Campaign, saying that "I indeed support you in wanting the Vultures' Bill passed into law". Benjamin William Mkapa, former president of the United Republic of Tanzania has also expressed his support describing how Vulture Funds quash the hopes of poor African countries raised after the Millennium Development Goals. He added 'I hope the intenational community joins hands to put an end to these deplorable activities of the Vulture Funds.'

10 March - Committee Stage  

The vulture bill passed through its committee stage today, where MPs discuss a bill in some detail and add amendments. Nick Dearden reports from Parliament on what happened and what it means.   

26 Feb - Vultures Bill passes second reading

The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill was successfully passed by parliament at its second reading but thanks to Tory insistence must now go through a committee stage. This will slow the process down and has raised worries that the bill might not become law before the General Election.

25 Feb - President of Liberia Supports Vulture Bill

Great article out by Greg Palast in the Guardian today which reports that the President of Liberia supports the vulture bill getting its second reading tomorrow. He also reports that a senior investment manager is critical of the appalling action which two vulture funds took against Liberia last November.

We also have a new video on the website explaining what vulture funds are and why they’re a problem.

Watch the full report by Palast on Newsnight tonight.

24 Feb - Cake Sale at Vulture Law Firm

Campaigners today held a ‘cake sale’ outside the office of City law firm Dechert, who represented the vulture funds in the court case against Liberia last November. We figured that if Dechert was so hard up it had to take business based on such unethical activities, they really need some help in living up to their supposedly ‘socially responsible’ image. On the day of our stunt, Dechert organised a conference in New York, focussing on the importance of ‘global ethics’ in business.

Article in the Guardian announced the vulture fund bill that will be discussed on Friday.

Another article published in the Financial Times today looked at a recent decision in the ongoing vulture fund case against the Democratic Republic of Congo. In essence, the fund – FG Hemisphere – is trying to take a cut of Chinese investment going into DRC. This is a good example of why vultures are so bad for developing countries – not only do they directly take money out of the country, but they prevent other countries and companies investing in these very poor countries. Good blog by Ann Pettifor explaining why this shows the need for a structural solution to international debt in which all ‘blame’ for debt does not fall onto the debtor.

23 Feb - Financial Sector Lobbies Against Bill

The financial sector has voiced its opposition to the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill which would introduce legislation to regulate 'vulture funds' 

The consultation responses to the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill included high levels of support from charities and development agencies who highlighted the immorality and counterproductivity of vulture funds in the attempt for debt reductions in some of the poorest countries in the world. However it also predictably saw a lot of opposition from those with a vested interest in countering challenges to the current lack of accountability in the financial sector.

23 Feb - Government Supports Vulture Legislation

The British government has said it supports legislation to stop vulture behaviour again HIPC (eligible) countries.

I’ve written a blog with more details on the EuroDad site. In short – the Government has come out clearly supporting a new law despite of a number of submissions from the financial services industry opposing legislation. The Government has said it supports legislation which would ensure that any creditor litigating against a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) would be forced to accept a HIPC-style write down on its claim. This would often wipe 90% off the claim and make it much more unlikely that vultures will bother to buy-up the debts in the first place.

Moreover, the bill will have a retroactive element – it will apply to awards which have already been made but not enforced. This is good news for Liberia which had an award of $20 million made against it in the High Court in London last November, and is now preparing to fight off enforcement cases.

These principles are all incorporated into Andrew Gwynne’s Private Member’s Bill which will receive its second reading on Friday.

11 Feb - MPs show support for vulture bill

MPs from across the parties turned out yesterday to affirm their support for Andrew Gwynne MP’s Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill. Speakers from each of the main parties outlined the urgent need for cross-party support to bring about this legislation. Speakers included Nigel Evans, Conservative MP, Gareth Thomas, Minister for International Development, Lembit Opik, Lib Dem MP, the High Commissioner of Mozambique and Nick Dearden, director of JDC.

Jan - Support the Vultures Funds Bill

Andrew Gwynne MP's Private Members Bill to tackle vulture funds has its second reading in Parliament on the 26th February. If passed, this Bill would limit the ability of vulture funds to use UK law to prey on the poorest countries in the world.  TAKE ACTION to ensure your MP supports it.  

15 Jan - Vultures gather over Argentina

US courts have ruled in favour of vulture funds in a dispute over defaulted debts dating back to 2002 when severe economic problems forced Argentina to default. Despite an agreement being reached over the debts in 2004, with the majority of bondholders agreeing to accept around one third of the price, some of the remainder was sold at a discount to the vulture funds. An increase in the debt burden would have serious impacts on the Argentinean economy and its citizens’ welfare.
 

2009

  

17 Dec - UN expert urges action against vultures

UN expert on foreign debt regrets British court order that Liberia must pay 1978 debt to 'vulture funds'

1 Dec - Andrew Gwynne MP sponsors vultures bill

Good news: Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, number three on the Private Members' Ballot, has agreed to sponsor a bill targeting Vulture Funds.

26 Nov - Vultures Swoop on Liberia in London

Two vulture funds have been awarded $20 million from Liberia in the High Court in London today, for a debt dating back to the 1970s.

Oct - The Business Case Against Vultures

This new briefing considers why vulture funds are a problem for business, what legislation is being proposed in the UK, and what impact it would have, if any, on the secondary debt market. Download >>

Sep - Responding to your MP

Thousands of people have written to their MPs about vultures funds, and over 180 MPs have signed EDM 1440. Here we give suggested responses to some common claims made by MPs in response to our campaign. Read more >>

Sep - Vulture funds: Where are they operating?

This set of case studies looks at current vulture fund claims being made against Nicaragua, Honduras, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Cameroon.

21 Jul - Vultures law proposed

The UK Government has today announced a consultation on a new law that would prevent lenders from profiting from the debts of developing countries.

June - Glastonbury

Sunshine, fresh air and good music not a good mix for Vultures as festival goers give a massive boost to the Vulture Culture Campaign

May - Press on Vultures

'MPs act to keep the vultures at bay' More >>
'The vulture fund culture must end'   More >>
'US bill would outlaw vulture funds'   More >> 

6 May - Vulture Funds UK Action

Sally Keeble MP led a group of 12 cross-party MPs proposing legislation in Parliament to stop vulture funds profiteering from poor country debt.

Dec 1 - Vulture Act introduced into US Congress

Representative Maxine Waters introduced the Stop VULTURE Funds Act, a bill into Congress that would prevent vulture funds from making this excessive profit at the expense of poor countries.

See where the vultures are circling

The map from Africa Action's website illustrates the commercial creditor lawsuits against countries receiving the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) Assistance (As of the end of 2007)

Support the campaign
Order your Vulture Culture Materials here >>