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   CLUB SANDWICH 69

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AND IN THE GREEN CORNER

Will the man ever shut up? NO. Emphatically no. And why should he, when there's so much to he said and governments aren't saying it for us? Continuing the theme from the New World Tour, Paul McCartney would like a few moments of your time (and, ideally, a whole lot more) to consider the dirty deed that is whaling

            Quite aside from all the gruesome facts, I have a -personal, emotional view of the whaling issue, and it's that we, as human beings, are mammals, and the largest mammal living on this planet is the whale. It's the biggest one of our species. So right there, on a purely passionate level, I have a great respect and a great love for it. I love to see footage of a whale swimming around and hate to see footage of a whale being harpooned, blown up or cut up.
            We took the New World Tour to Norway realising that we were going to get a bit of flak for our anti-whaling stance. In fact, we nearly boycotted the concert - we'd been asked by Greenpeace to avoid anything to do with Norway - but I thought no, that would be hitting the wrong people. Our fans aren't the ones who deserve to be punished. As you can imagine, though, whaling was the first question at the press conference - they even sent people from the whaling authorities to tackle me. But I just said to them, "I'm sorry, this may be very embarrassing for you, but I really am against this. These are very beautiful creatures, I think they're worth saving."
            The point they always make is that it's their traditional way to make a living, and of course this question does have to be addressed. You can't just say "tough". But I reply that the traditional way to make a living where I come from, Liverpool, was to sell slaves, but there came a point when people realised that it was a wicked trade and that it had to stop. I don't think the Norwegians were too pleased for whaling to be compared with slavery but in my view it is comparable - whereas once it was a way to earn a living it is no longer acceptable. I also realise that I am, in many ways, an intruder on the Norwegians' way of life, but I see myself as a citizen of the world, of the planet - I don't recognise arbitrary boundaries anymore, particularly when we're talking about whaling.
            The modern way for whalers to earn a living might be to take a boat out and let tourists do whale watching - we researched a few figures as to what the whalers earn from killing and what they could earn from providing facilities for whale watching and there's a good case that they could make a better living with whale watching. And it would certainly be more popular with the international community.
            Slavery isn't the only relevant analogy. Remember Mrs Pankhurst? She had to fight like mad to get women the vote, now it seems like second nature - you couldn't imagine a world where women don't vote, it would be so derogatory to suggest that they didn't have the intelligence. But she had to fight for that, and you better believe that she wasn't popular. People hated her. And of course there was slavery - in Texas they certainly didn't want to give up their slaves, but they had to because it was wrong. And so it is with whaling. And there aren't an awful lot of people eating whale meat these days anyway.
            If I wanted an easy life I could sit down and shut up. But I can't - this is too important. At press conferences people say to me "Why not AIDS? Why not this, that or the other issue?" and I say if we don't get this issue right, the planet, there's no forum to have any other issues. And then people say, "But why are you bothering about this, isn't it the job of the government?" And I say, "You're damn right it is!" We the people want governments to get more involved, we look to governments to give us a lead, and if they start doing it then I promise to sit down and shut up. But as long as I see them neglecting their duty I'll keep coming on strong. Politicians might wear lapel badges saying "I'm Green" but they don't follow it up with policies.
            There is something very exciting on the whaling agenda at the moment, though, and that's the potential setting up by the International Whaling Commission - backed by Greenpeace - of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. If it's adopted then all the waters around the Antarctic will be closed to commercial whaling for 50 years. The final yes or no decision is expected at the next IWC meeting in Mexico in May but Japan, unfortunately, is putting in a massive effort to stop the scheme.
            More than 1,500,000 whales have been killed so far in those waters - it's high time that the practice was ended once and for all, and I'd like to urge everyone reading this to support the establishing of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. If there's enough support it will definitely go through and be a fantastic advance.

            For further information about the Southern Ocean Sanctuary or the general campaign to prevent whaling write to Greenpeace, Canonbury Villas, London N1 2PN, England, or to the local Greenpeace branch in your own country.

Club Sandwich 69