A letter to Peter Marks, Chief Executive of The Co-operative Group
Mr Peter Marks
peter.marks@co-operative.coop
Chief Executive
The Co-operative Group Ltd
Dear Mr Marks,
I write as a member of The Co-operative Group, and someone who shares its values.
You will, no doubt, be aware of the recent allegations published in The Guardian detailing the actions of the News of the World newspaper, a News International publication. The allegations are of a vile nature, that “journalists” and private investigators working for the News of the World not only hacked into the voicemail of missing teenager Milly Dowler in 2002, but that they deleted voicemail messages from that account even as police investigated the disappearance, cruelly causing Milly’s family to entertain false hopes that she was alive.
These actions are revolting, reprehensible, and have no place in the practise of journalism.
When the Co-operative chooses to sell a product, I believe it is making an implicit moral judgement that it agrees with the methods use to make that product. I think the Co-operative believes this too, and it is for this reason, that I am sure that no product it sells is produced with child or slave labour, and I am encouraged by the efforts to obtain and manufacture products in environmentally-sustainable ways.
It is also for this reason, that I urge the Co-operative to no longer stock the News of the World in any of its stores. Its actions have been disgusting, and should not be supported by the Co-operative in any way what-so-ever.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Yours sincerely,
Jason Langenauer
Stockwell, London.
