Editing Colin Firth (section)

== Activism ==
[[File:P052511PS-1260 (5835911489).jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Firth with [[Queen Elizabeth II]] (and [[Barack Obama]]) at [[Winfield House]] in London in 2011]]

Firth has been a longstanding supporter of [[Survival International]], a [[non-governmental organisation]] that advocates for the rights of tribal peoples.<ref name="survivalinternationalfirth">{{cite web|url=http://www.survival-international.org/news/24|title='Love Actually' star Colin Firth condemns Bushman evictions|work=Survival International|access-date=27 February 2007|archive-date=29 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729192004/http://www.survival-international.org/news/24|url-status=dead}}</ref> Speaking in 2001, he said, "My interest in tribal peoples goes back many years&nbsp;... and I have supported [Survival] ever since."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.survival-international.org/news/audio|title=Audio|work=Survival International|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404050337/http://www.survival-international.org/news/audio|archive-date=4 April 2008}}</ref> In 2003, during the promotion of ''[[Love Actually]]'', he spoke in defence of the Indigenous people of [[Botswana]], condemning the Botswana government's eviction of the [[Gana and Gwi people]] (San) from the [[Central Kalahari Game Reserve]]. He said of San, "These people are not the remnants of a past era who need to be brought up to date. Those who are able to continue to live on the land that is rightfully theirs are facing the 21st century with a confidence that many of us in the so-called developed world can only envy."<ref name="survivalinternationalfirth" /> He has also backed a Survival International campaign to press the Brazilian government to take more decisive action in defence of [[Awá-Guajá people]], whose land and livelihood is critically threatened by the actions of loggers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/22/brazil-rainforest-awa-endangered-tribe |title='They're killing us': world's most endangered tribe cries for help|last=Chamberlain|first=Gethin|work=The Guardian|date=22 April 2012|access-date=22 April 2012}}</ref>

As a supporter of the [[Refugee Council]], Firth was involved in a campaign to stop the [[deportation]] of a group of 42 Congolese [[asylum seeker]]s, expressing concerns in open letters to ''The Independent'' and ''The Guardian'' that they faced being murdered on their return to the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]].<ref name=Guardian260207>{{cite news|last=Firth|first=Colin|title=Britain's shameful deportations of asylum seekers|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/feb/26/immigration.congo|access-date=2 February 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=26 February 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Colin Firth|title=We must stop a deportation that is likely to end in murder|url=http://comment.independent.co.uk/letters/article2305539.ece|work=The Independent|date=26 February 2007|access-date=27 February 2007|location=London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228104940/http://comment.independent.co.uk/letters/article2305539.ece|archive-date=28 February 2007}}</ref><ref name=RefCoun,270207>{{cite web|title=Colin Firth voices outrage at deportations to Congo|url=http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/news/archive/news/2007/february/26022007|work=Refugee Council, 27 February 2007|publisher=Refugee Council|access-date=2 February 2013}}{{Dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Firth said: "To me, it's just basic civilisation to help people. I find this incredibly painful to see how we dismiss the most desperate people in our society. It's easily done. It plays to the tabloids, to the [[Middle England|Middle-England]] [[xenophobes]]. It just makes me furious. And all from a government we once had such high hopes for."<ref>{{cite news|author=Andrew Johnson|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2305575.ece|title=Colin Firth makes plea for nurse 'facing murder' in Congo|work=The Independent|date=26 February 2007|access-date=27 February 2007|location=London|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228112359/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2305575.ece|archive-date=28 February 2007}}</ref> Four of the asylum seekers were given last-minute reprieves from deportation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Firth's intervention saves nurse from deportation|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2308458.ece|work=The Independent|date=27 February 2007|access-date=27 February 2007|location=London|author=Damian Spellman|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070302121337/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2308458.ece|archive-date=2 March 2007}}</ref>

Firth, along with other celebrities, has been involved in the [[Oxfam]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.efi-news.com/2011/11/kings-speech-star-to-auction-himself.html|title=The King's Speech Star to Auction Himself for Charity|work=EF News International|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222204429/http://www.efi-news.com/2011/11/kings-speech-star-to-auction-himself.html|archive-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> global campaign [[Make Trade Fair]], focusing on trade practices considered especially unfair to third-world producers, including dumping, high import tariffs, and labour rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?file=dumped_colin.htm|title=Make Trade Fair|work=Oxfam International|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707064330/http://www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?file=dumped_colin.htm|archive-date=7 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfam.org/en/news/pressreleases2005/pr051212_bignoise|title=Celebrities present 18&nbsp;million-strong Make Trade Fair petition to World Trade boss in Hong Kong|work=Oxfam International|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202145352/http://www.oxfam.org/en/news/pressreleases2005/pr051212_bignoise|archive-date=2 December 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firth.com/articles/05indep_716.html|title=Colin Firth Profile in the Independent|publisher=firth.com}}</ref> He and some collaborators opened Eco, an eco-friendly shop in West London,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article2856825.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705035042/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article2856825.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 July 2008|title=Colin Firth's New Eco-Store|work=[[The Times]]|location=London|author=Lisa Grainger|date=17 November 2007|access-date=30 April 2010}}</ref> which offers fair-trade and eco-friendly goods, and expert advice on making spaces more energy efficient. In October 2009, at the [[London Film Festival]], he launched a film and political activism website, Brightwide (since decommissioned), with his wife Livia.<ref>[http://www.brightwide.com Brightwide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220013054/http://www.brightwide.com/ |date=20 February 2010 }} web site. Meanwhile, out of service. Retrieved 15 July 2015</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2009/sep/22/colin-firth-oscars|title=The Rebirth of Colin Firth|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=22 September 2009|access-date=30 April 2010|author=Adam Dawtrey}}</ref>

During the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], Firth announced his support for the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], having previously been a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] supporter, citing asylum and refugees' rights as key reasons for the change.<ref>{{cite web|last=Backers|first=Celebrity|url=http://www.libdemvoice.org/colin-firth-18389.html|title=Colin Firth on why he's stopped voting Labour and now supports the Lib Dems|publisher=Libdemvoice|date=16 March 2010|access-date=3 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505023945/http://www.libdemvoice.org/colin-firth-18389.html|archive-date=5 May 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> In December 2010, he publicly dropped his support of the Liberal Democrats, citing their U-turn on [[2010 United Kingdom student protests|tuition fees]], and said that he was currently unaffiliated.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/14/colin-firth-no-longer-support-liberal-democrats|location=London| work=The Guardian|first=Patrick|last=Wintour|title=Colin Firth: I no longer support the Liberal Democrats|date=14 December 2010}}</ref> He appeared in literature supporting changing the British electoral system from [[first-past-the-post]] to [[alternative vote]] for electing members of parliament to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], in the unsuccessful [[2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum|Alternative Vote referendum]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12950712|title= Benjamin Zephaniah 'airbrushed from Yes to AV leaflets'|work=BBC News|date=3 April 2011}}</ref>

In 2009, Firth joined the [[10:10]] project, supporting the movement calling for people to reduce their carbon footprints. In 2010, he endorsed "Roots & Shoots",<ref>[http://www.rootsnshoots.org.uk/endorsement-from-colin-firth/ Endorsement from Colin Firth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210131210/https://www.rootsnshoots.org.uk/endorsement-from-colin-firth/ |date=10 February 2023 }} Roots & Shoots</ref> an education programme in the UK run by the [[Jane Goodall Institute#United Kingdom|Jane Goodall Institute]].