Fifty Kenneth Clarkes gathered in London yesterday to demand that British American Tobacco close the factory it jointly owns with the military regime in Burma.
Protesters carrying masks of the BAT deputy chairman chanted in Burmese outside the firm's headquarters, with placards quoting a letter from the former chancellor to a constituent admitting he felt uncomfortable about investment in the country.
John Jackson, director of Burma Campaign UK, said: "We are not going to let Ken Clarke off the hook. BAT are collaborating with a military dictatorship. They are funding a regime that rapes, murders and tortures its own people."
Campaigners from the Burma Campaign were joined by Unison representatives and members of the Burmese community in cluding Buddhist monk U Uttara, above.
BAT said: "We understand and greatly respect concerns about human rights. However, we do not believe the best way forward is for businesses to withdraw from countries whose governments' human rights record have been criticised. Companies do not and should not have a mandate to step into areas of political authority."
