Alistair Gray Author Rss

Campaigners demanding decriminalisation plan to march from Royal Courts of Justice to Westminster on Saturday

Alistair Gray — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 23:00:44 +0000

A two-year prison sentence for a woman in England who terminated a pregnancy after the legal time limit has alarmed abortion rights advocates and prompted calls for reform of the Victorian statute under which the mother of three was convicted.

Labour MP Stella Creasy said the criminal legal regime that governs the procedure was “arcane” and meant women were at risk of being “prosecuted for exercising what we consider to be a human right”. Campaigners demanding decriminalisation of abortion plan to march from London’s Royal Courts of Justice to Westminster on Saturday.

However, she stopped short of calling for the decriminalisation of abortion regulations and said “of course there need to be time limits”. She called for the Sentencing Council, an independent body that seeks to promote consistency in sentencing, to consider drawing up guidelines to stop “vulnerable women sent to prison like this” and asked if the government would “review” the legal framework.

Some Conservative lawmakers — including Caroline Nokes, chair of the Commons’ women and equalities select committee — have also said there is a case for a rethink of the law.

Yet Sheldon questioned whether there was enough political will to create the necessary parliamentary time to enable legislative change.

“Government just don’t want to deal with this,” she said. “They don’t want the divisions — nor the hostile mail.”

This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Alistair Gray

Company pushed to become less reliant on products high in sugar and saturated fats

Alistair Gray — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 17:00:46 +0000

A group of institutional investors in Nestlé has increased pressure on the world’s largest food company to become less reliant on unhealthy products and warned that consumers’ overconsumption of packaged goods with limited nutritional value poses “systemic risks” to financial returns.

Shareholders with more than $3tn in combined assets under management are calling on the Switzerland-based group to set a target to increase the proportion of its revenues from healthier foods and drinks. Ahead of Nestlé’s annual general meeting in Lausanne on Thursday, they said they were prepared to “escalate” the matter unless directors addressed their concerns.

This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Alistair Gray

World’s biggest food company discloses nutritional value of its portfolio for the first time

Alistair Gray — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 07:43:41 +0000

Nestlé has acknowledged that the nutritional value of less than half its portfolio of mainstream food and drinks can be considered “healthy” using a commonly accepted definition, despite pressure on packaged foodmakers to make their products more nutritious.

The annual report of the world’s largest food company showed 54 per cent of its food and beverages by revenue — excluding products such as pet food, baby food, vitamins and specialised medical nutrition — were rated lower than 3.5 under the widely used health star rating (HSR) system.

This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Alistair Gray