May 2010 Archives

Last year, the Conservatives said they wanted to increase the support given to arms exports, and use arms sales as a "foreign policy tool" - a truly alarming prospect. But in the past many senior Liberal Democrats have supported our campaign to end government support for arms exports.

Please take time to email Vince Cable, the minister responsible for UKTI and ask him to end the disproportionate support given to the UKTI Defence & Security Organisation.

More information can be found here in the May 2010 CAAT bulletin - along with info on the upcoming Stop Week, People's Jury and BAE AGM, a new briefing paper 'Private Gain, Public Pain' and more.

The Norwich North & South Peace Hustings took place prior to the general election to compare candidates' answers to questions about freeing the world of nuclear weapons,
tax subsidies to the arms trade, conflict in Afghanistan, the Middle East and more.

Norfolk CAAT asked the following question:
The UK government supports and promotes military exports through the Department for Trade and Industry Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO). This has more staff working specifically to promote arms sales than all other types of export combined. Much of this promotion targets unstable and repressive regimes. Would you agree panel that the UKTI DSO must be shut down and it's functions ended?





The event took place on the 12 April and was sponsored by 14 of the groups at this years upcoming Peace Camp.

The Friends Meeting House did not charge for the venue, as Quakers were one of the endorsing groups, and chaired the event. Any money collected was added to the Quaker appeal for Jerusalem PeaceMakers.

Thanks to Lesley, CND and the other groups involved for their work organising this event. Thanks to the Norwich No2ID group for providing the video footage.

The latest medialens alert is an excellent analysis of high tech military spending - Trident, Israel's new Iron Dome - and the media's response.

"In reality, the logic of military spending has been reversed. It is not that awesome weapons are required to counter awesome threats - threats are needed to justify high-tech weapons. There is no terrifying Soviet, Muslim or Martian plan to conquer the West. There is despair and anger expressed using the poor person's weapon of war - labeled "terrorism" by our own high-tech terrorists - that would vanish, instantly, if Western elites stopped inventing motives and machines for attacking innocent people."

Clarion Events continue trying to sanitise their image with another innocuous sounding Fair, forgetting to tell attendees that they also host numerous arms fairs, including the DSEi Arms Fair in Docklands in 2011. This is the World's biggest Arms Fair.

Come along to Olympia, Hammersmith Road W14, and protest on Saturday 5 June. Help us tell attendees about the rather un-lovely deadly exhibits that Clarion help to promote when they hope we're admiring paintings.

I'm going to try and post fairly regular updates on my progress getting ready for the Great South Run. There might not always be much to say, but I think it's all part of getting ready.

Last year CAAT was looking for people to raise funding by taking part in the Great South Run, I offered my services quite late on in the day and have to admit to being quite relieved when there were no spaces. In January CAAT wrote to people who'd expressed an interest and this time I had no excuse.