Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (www.shac.net) say they are picketing Shell outlets on December 1 and 29. Plus the CBI on director confidentiality.
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (www.shac.net) say they are picketing Shell outlets on December 1 and 29, and Huntinhdon Life Sciences, Cambs, on Christmas Day. The SHAC websites also reports intrustions and ?furniture-rearranging? at Yamanouchi, an Oxford laboratory, and says SHAC will demonstrate at a London biotechnology event – a BIA European Investor and CEO conference on November 27 and 28 at the Shaw Park Plaza Hotel. Meanwhile, the Confederation of British Industry wants the government to stop publishing home addresses of directors in the registration of businesses at Companies House. It says the practice leaves business people and their families vulnerable to violence and intimidation. The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 says directors can get a confidentiality order but only by convincing police of a risk. The CBI says ministers should give the protection of confidentiality to all directors whether there has been a history of threats or not. It believes all directors should be allowed to supply a business address for the public record and give a home address to the authorities for use in criminal investigations and for other law enforcement purposes. This should provide adequate protection for creditors. John Cridland, CBI Deputy Director-General, said: ?It is not acceptable that company directors and their families should be put in danger when going about a legitimate business. We must do everything possible to protect people against those who want to impose their version of justice on others. The threats are many so publishing home addresses is an unnecessary risk.? The CBI says there are a wide range people who could pose a threat, ranging from disgruntled ex-employees to violent political activists. Its move follows the events surrounding the Cambridge firm Huntingdon Life Sciences. Last week three animal rights protesters were jailed after encouraging people to send letters and faxes to company shareholders and staff. Confidentiality orders only apply to future filings at Companies House and not to information currently on the public record. The CBI says they should apply to all information on the public record, including not only current directors but former directors as well. But the employers? organisation makes clear that the Criminal Justice and Police Act should not be delayed or abandoned. It wants ministers to make the changes in the forthcoming Companies Bill, a white paper on which is expected next year. The CBI proposal for the removal of home addresses from the public record was also supported by the government’s Company Law Review, to which ministers have yet to respond. Mr Cridland said: ?Confidentiality orders are a useful step but people are not always aware of danger until it is too late. It should not be for companies to have to make a specific case. And where this case is made, the current proposals leave previously filed addresses on the public record so the measures will be ineffectual. It is time to end the confusion and give all directors the right to put a business address on the public record.? See www.cbi.org.uk
