NICK Dearden, the head of the World Development Movement, a national organisation which campaigns against the root causes of poverty, inequality and climate change, will be giving a talk in Stroud on Monday, February 17.

Mr Dearden, who has previously worked for War on Want, Amnesty International and the Jubilee Debt Campaign, will be speaking about the proposed EU-US trade treaty, the increasing power of corporations, the implications for democracy and what can be done about it.

Local Green Party MEP candidate and district councillor Molly Scott-Cato will also be speaking at the event, which starts at 7.15pm and is being held at the Open House, next to the Star Anise cafe, in Gloucester Street, Stroud.

Referring to the proposed EU-US free trade deal, Cllr Scott Cato said: “The trade treaty would allow corporations to claim compensation if national governments introduce laws that they believe have undermined their ability to make profits.

“Rather than the somewhat limp argument currently used by politicians to justify satisfying the whim of corporate barons, this would give such arguments real legal teeth and shift power further away from the citizen and in the direction of corporations.”