Ethical Investments (Hansard, 14 July 1997)

§ 38. Mr. Baker
To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, what is the policy of the Church Commissioners in respect of ethical investments. [6502]

§ Mr. Stuart Bell
The hon. Gentleman might like to know that the Church Commissioners have pursued ethical investment policies for longer than anyone else. Way back in 1948, the Church gave the lead when apartheid became a statutory regime in South Africa, and it banned investment in companies that were dealing with South Africa. The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that I was at the Synod in York on Saturday where there was a useful and constructive debate on ethical investment. The Church Commissioners are concerned to balance and reconcile their duty to maximise their investments with ethical judgments from within the Church.

§ Mr. Baker
I am pleased that the issue is apparently being taken seriously by the Church Commissioners. Is the Minister aware that the commissioners are investing a seven-figure sum in a company called Monsanto, which is responsible for the production of the Agent Orange pesticide which led to an out-of-court settlement of $180 million? Is he further aware that the company had to pay a fine in New York because of misleading advertising which claimed that it was environmentally friendly? Is he also aware that the company is responsible for and is at the leading edge of genetic engineering, which some of us regard as playing God with the building blocks of life? Does the hon. Gentleman think that investment in that company is consistent with the tenets of Christianity, and will he take steps to disinvest in Monsanto?

§ Mr. Bell
The question of Agent Orange goes back to the Vietnam war in the 1970s. It would not be appropriate in the House to go into specific cases, but if the hon. Gentleman wishes to write to me on the matter, I shall consider it. There is constant dialogue between companies that are involved in various activities and the Church Commissioners. As a so-called guru of corporate governance in the Labour party, I am interested in looking at various codes of conduct and at ethical investment and in updating them, if that is needed. I want to be sure that we reconcile the Church's ethical criteria with its right and duty to maximise its income.

§ Ann Clwyd
As my hon. Friend knows, the Church Commissioners say that they do not invest in companies 18 that deal mainly in arms. GEC is now the second largest producer of arms in this country and it is expanding its production. What is the cut-off point? What is the precise meaning of "mainly"?

§ Mr. Bell
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. The Church of England's ethical investment working group, which includes a number of investing bodies and their staffs, has established contact with GEC, which has given assurances that it is in the business of defence-related equipment that is sold to the Government and to other NATO Governments. All of that is done under licence. The ethical investment working group and the commissioners continue to maintain close oversight on what companies are doing, where they are investing and their proposals. All investment decisions are taken after that close co-operation and in the light of companies' decisions.