Lindsay Keenan
Dear friends
I would like to ask your help to persuade Mr Hugh Grant (CEO of Monsanto) to attend a public debate in Glasgow.
I have been trying for many months now to arrange for Mr Hugh Grant to attend a public debate in Glasgow, Scotland (which is Mr Grants old home town, and mine). Mr Grant initially replied to say he was willing to meet me for a chat but that he would not participate in a public debate (see his reply below). I replied accepting the offer to meet but stressing that the agenda for any talk should be about how his company stops damaging the environment and peoples lives and about how and when he and I would meet for a public debate in Scotland. Since then, despite further letters, emails and phone calls from me Mr Grant has not replied.
I have copied the correspondence below fyi. Personally I think it is very reasonable to expect the CEO of this important company (and a member of the Scottish Enterprise advisory board) to make himself available to attend a public debate in the city where he was born and educated.
So after these many months of patiently trying by myself I am now asking for your help to persuade Mr Grant to attend a public debate in Glasgow.
Mr Grant's email and his office address and phone number are below. Can I invite you please to send him an email, a letter or give him a call and ask him why he is not willing to attend a public debate in Glasgow.
Can you please also forward this request to any relevant lists where people may be interested.
I will of course be following up this matter and will now also start to invite other people and groups and the Scottish media to join me in inviting Mr Grant to attend a public debate.
many thanks for your attention to this matter
sincerely
Lindsay Keenan
Letter to:
Hugh Grant
Monsanto
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
800 North Lindbergh Boulevard
Saint Louis, MO 63167
Phone: 001 314-694-1000
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Date: 3 Feb 2008
Sent by: Email and registered post
Dear Mr Grant
Request for urgent action and invitation to public meeting in Scotland
I am writing to you in your role as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Monsanto and an International Advisory Board Member of Scottish Enterprise.
My name is Lindsay Keenan. I have worked for much of the last ten years on the issue of sustainable agriculture. Based on the information I have heard and seen over these years I believe it to be your responsibility to take action to prevent further damage by Monsanto products and practices and to repair or pay compensation for the damages Monsanto has already caused and for any future damage.
Therefore;
1. I would like to formally ask you to take action to halt your company’s production and sale of chemicals, genetically engineered seeds, and other damaging products.
2. I would also like to invite you to meet with me in a public space in Scotland to discuss Monsanto, its products and practices, and your role and responsibilities.
I think that your role as Chairman, President and CEO of Monsanto and as an International Advisory Board Member of Scottish Enterprise should require you to make yourself available from time to time to attend an open public meeting and to answer questions about your company and your various roles. I therefore formally invite you to meet and discuss these matters in such a public forum.
I understand that you currently live in the US but that you return a number of times each year to Glasgow / Scotland due to your various roles and in a personal capacity.
A public meeting can be arranged in Glasgow or elsewhere in Scotland at short notice or earliest convenience and I can make myself available more or less whenever you can make yourself available.
Perhaps you could find time on your next visit to Scotland?
Please let me know when you will be available to meet considering the urgency of the matters and your earliest convenience. I look forward to your response in due course.
Yours sincerely
Lindsay Keenan
--- On Wed, 6/2/08, GRANT, HUGH [AG/1000] This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
wrote:
From: GRANT, HUGH [AG/1000] <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Subject: Re: Request for urgent action and invitation to public meeting in Scotland
To: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Date: Wednesday, 6 February, 2008, 7:44 PM
Dear Mr Keenan
Thanks for your note. We exchanged notes back in late 2006 and as I indicated to you then, I would not be interested in a debate, but I would be willing to talk with you during one of my periodic visits to Europe.
If you're OK with this, I will see if we can arrange something?
Best regards, hugh grant
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Sent via BlackBerry
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--- On Sun, 10/2/08, Lindsay Keenan <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> wrote:
From: Lindsay Keenan <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Subject: Re: Request for urgent action and invitation to public meeting in Scotland
To: "GRANT, HUGH [AG/1000]" <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Cc: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Date: Sunday, 10 February, 2008, 7:51 PM
Dear Mr. Grant
Thank you for your response. I do not recall receiving a previous reply from you. However perhaps the communication went astray. I did change jobs during 2007 during which time my email address and other contact details changed and that might explain it. In any case I am glad that you have taken the opportunity to reply now.
I am happy to take up your offer to meet me but there should be a point to that meeting. I would like to discuss the following matters as explained in my letter.
Agenda points:
1) For you as Chairman, President and CEO of Monsanto to take urgent action to halt your company’s production and sale of chemicals, genetically engineered seeds, and other damaging products. To prevent further damage by Monsanto products and practices and to repair or pay compensation for the damages already caused and for any future damage.
2) For you in your roles as Chairman, President and CEO of Monsanto and as an International Advisory Board Member of Scottish Enterprise to attend a public
meeting in Scotland to discuss Monsanto, its products & practices, and your role & responsibilities.
Please let me know if you have other items you would also wish to discuss.
Regarding the public meeting in Scotland:
1) What are your reasons for not wanting to discuss these matters with me at a public meeting in Scotland? What would it take to persuade you to reconsider your interest in participating in such a public discussion?
2) I understand that you were born in Scotland and educated amongst other places at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, two Universities with great traditions of public debate. Are your concerns about attending a public debate centered on the subject matter of the discussion, the location, the timing, other details of the arrangements or is it the basic concept of attending a public meeting that is your
concern?
3) There are many people whom I have met during the last ten years who I know would also like to meet and talk with you about these issues. If you are not willing to debate the matters in a public space will you instead be prepared to also meet each of them to talk one to one?
Mr Grant given the prominence of Monsanto in the global seed and chemicals market and the effect Monsanto’s products and practices have on human health and the environment on a global scale, you have a truly historic responsibility. A public meeting to discuss the matters is the least that could be expected.
I understand that your role with Scottish Enterprise brings you back to Scotland from time to time. So perhaps we can meet in Scotland. I would also be willing to meet you in other parts of Europe if both our travel schedules make that a more natural fit.
I await your agreement or further proposal on the agenda for an initial meeting, and your proposal for the timing and location. I also remain waiting for your feedback on the matter of you taking urgent action to prevent further damage my Monsanto products and practices.
I look forward to hear from you. This week I am back in Scotland and available on the phone numbers in my previous email and will be happy to discuss the matters with you directly if that is more convenient or can speed the process.
Yours sincerely
Lindsay Keenan
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--- On Sun, 5/10/08, Lindsay Keenan <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> wrote:
From: Lindsay Keenan <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Subject: Invitation to GMO discussion in Glasgow
To: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Date: Sunday, 5 October, 2008, 1:26 AM
Dear Mr Grant
We have corresponded previously on the matter of attending a public meeting in Glasgow to discuss the GMO issue and all about Monsanto.
I wonder if you have had time now to consider this suggestion and if you are willing to fix a time and place to have that discussion.
can I suggest the Glasgow City halls in candleriggs as a good and central location. I will be happy to book and hall and send out the invitations.
What dates are suitable for you?
Perhaps when you will next be in Glasgow for one of the Scottish Enterprise meetings would be possible for you?
I look forward to hear from you and to meet with you in person
Best regards
Lindsay Keenan