Number 1 for Fair Trade: In Scotland 2016, a 43% increase in fair trade activity

In 2013, Scotland became only the second country in the World, after Wales, to achieve Fair Trade Nation status. There has been a 43% in consumers reporting fair trade purchases and 30% increase in the number of Scottish towns achieving Fair Trade status according to WIREDGOV on 2^nd March. The total is now 65. There are only 54 ‘localities’ or ‘cities’ and ‘towns’, in Scotland with 15 000 or more inhabitants so does that mean all of them plus a few wee ones?

At the level of local authorities, 75% now have Fair Trade status. My local town, Ayr, seems to have the status but I can see no evidence the Tory/Labour coven running the whole of South Ayrshire has done so. However, only 70% of Higher Education Institutions do. I thought students were keen on this kind of thing? The Director of the Scottish Fair Trade Forum said:

‘Having Scotland’s Fair Trade Nation status affirmed once more shows that Fair Trade campaigners across Scotland have continued to work tirelessly to consolidate on past achievements and make further progress towards ensuring support for Fair Trade continues to grow.’

100% of Welsh cities and 55% of Welsh towns have Fair Trade status. There are 6 cities and 20 ‘boroughs’ in Wales, comparable in size to a Scottish ‘town.’

So, anyhoo, looks like we’re even more Fair Trade than Wales, with England not having achieved such status yet. Let’s see, Scotland and Wales have sort of left-of-centre administrations and England has the Tories. Don’t Tories like Fair Trade? They like church fairs. Here’s what the Daily Torygraph headlined about it:

Fair trade is neither fair nor good for trade

I’m not reading it. I had this argument with a colleague a few years back. He’d just failed selection as a Labour candidate and had suddenly become a Tory.

http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/news.nsf/articles/Fair+Trade+Nation+02032017110500?open

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_towns_and_cities_in_Scotland_by_population

http://fairtradewales.com/fair-trade-nation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_towns_in_Wales

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8353361/Fair-trade-is-neither-fair-nor-good-for-trade.html