DSEi and the arms trade. - news archive

Palestinian delegates to Brighton: Naveen, Tubas women's group and Mohammed Tubas Red Crescent attended the weekly noisy protest outside EDO MBM in Home Farm Road yesterday. (Wed 27 Sept) The Palestinian delegates visited the factory to express their anger at the manufacture of components for weapons believed to be used against their families in Palestine. They also wished to experiences an English-style protest. Police attempted to film them without asking for permission and were prevented by local citizens. After persistent negotiations the police stopped filming for the duration of the demonstration.

Ponder at your leisure the following and decide which is the more dangerous.

1. Covering up the BAE-Saudi affair. That a “cover up” occurred is the least of it.
2. A police investigation into a Channel 4 documentary which investigated “extremist Mosques”.

I do have a complaint when the government insists that it is absolutely committed to promoting democracy and opposing oppressive regimes and refuses to accept that selling powerful military equipment to a regime like the House of Saud flatly contradicts that assertion. The result is that the entire premise of the foreign policy debate as framed by the government is built on a myth. This is not only starkly hypocritical but it also effectively negates the ability of the people to meaningful debate foreign policy with the government.

A 66 year old female pacifist, with a freedom pass to travel throughout London, was arrested at Custom House station on 13 Sept, for the crime of displaying on her back a poster saying "Remember the victims of the arms trade". This peaceful elderly woman was handcuffed, manhandled, held overnight, released on bail, and is now awaiting trial on 5th November, with pre-trial review on 4 October.

While policymakers in Washington wrangle over how much progress we've made in Iraq, one thing is clear: The war on terror is making some people rich. President Bush's military buildup has caused defense-contractor revenue to double, triple and even more during the past five years, and their executives have reaped huge bonuses and stock windfalls as the companies' share prices have jumped.

More repression and brutality on the part of the Metropolitan Police on behalf of Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Thursday morning (13th September) as pensioner Irene Willis and her legal observer, Daniel Viesnik, 32, from London were arrested - forcibly in the case of the latter - during a lone silent vigil and blockade of Downing Street in protest at the DSEi arms fair in east London. The protest was seen by former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who was passing by at the time but didn’t pause for contemplation, as well as many visitors to Downing Street and members of the public.

About 150 people demonstrated in total this evening, 13 september, from 7 to 10pm, opposite the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane. As arms dealers had dinner at the hotel, people, together with the samba band, called them terrorists, while penned between barriers along the pavemnet oposite. The critical mass never made it to the hotel. At 8.15pm it was on its way up to Park Lane while the first 30 people had made it, some scorted by police, to the designated area of protest right next to Hyde Park.

The saga of the Space Hijackers and those tanks. Total cost of protecting DSEI from people who think it is wrong to sell weapons of torture and mass destruction to dictatorships? 3 MILLION. And who is picking up the tab? The arms industry? The government? NOPE, The people of London thats who.

As the Dsei arms fair comes to a close, questions will surely be being asked as to why their very expensive security operation allowed a bunch of protesters to get within yards of the Excel centre's east entrance and loading bays.

Anti-arms trade protesters have today dyed the Diana Princess of Wales memorial fountain blood red in outrage at the continuing sale and use of cluster bombs, and the presence of cluster bomb manufacturers at the Defence Systems & Equipment International (DSEi) arms fair, currently taking place at the ExCel centre in East London.

Over 150 CAAT supporters marched in East London from Plaistow to Custom House on Tuesday 11 Sept 2007 against the DSEi arms fair at the ExCeL Centre on Royal Victoria Dock, where they met with others including Critical Mass for a rally.

Tuesday Martin Newell and Zelda Jeffers poured "Rivers of Blood" onto the rampart of the DESi Arms Fair. DESi takes place in the London Docklands, a place that was once devasted during WWII. The Excel Centre now hosts a 6 Billion pound a week Arms Fair selling weapons to some of the poorest countries in our world.

The Space Hijackers arrived at the DSEi arms fair in a tank and proceeded to have a party and conduct an auction of the tank and a mouse just outside the main vehicle gate, as well as making a very visible protest to those leaving the fair.

Activist group The Space Hijackers acquired a tank which they planned to sell at auction outside the DSEI arms fair in East London. When police prevented the tank from reaching the arms fair they announced they had a second tank which was then approaching the arms fair.

10:30, got to Bank station for the Critical Mass to DSEI. We left at about 11:00AM with maybe 30 to 40 people. There was a sound system at the front, and one at the back. We went via Whitechapel, Comercial road, The Isle of Dog and Canning Town all the way to Custom House. The outreach on the mass was pretty good - I was at the back most of the time, so I could see all the bystanders looking at us, impressed by the sound systems, with anti-DSEI leaflets in their hands. This happened on quite a few streets where there was many bystanders who are not used to seeing critical mass cycle past them !

In the early hours of Tuesday, 11 September a group blockaded the entrance to the BAE Middleton factory carpark in conjunction with the day of action against the DSEi (Defence Systems and Equipment International) arms fair in London.

An international arms fair opening in London today was met with a wave of protest from local residents, community leaders, politicians and Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). The comedian and writer Mark Thomas addressed a peaceful demonstration organised by CAAT outside the event. The fair, Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi), will run from today until Friday at the Excel Centre in Newham, east London.

Photos from Custom House demo and Space Hijacker's Tank

Protesters have been arrested as they tried to invade one of the world's largest defence fairs in London. Arms trade critics, shouting "murderers" at exhibitors, were quickly overwhelmed by police after breaking through the initial security cordon. The Metropolitan Police say between 15 and 20 people were arrested for a suspected breach of the peace.

Noisy protests and a number of arrests marked the opening of one of the world's largest arms fairs today. Scores of demonstrators, complete with drums and trumpets, marched to the site of the Defence Systems & Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition in London's Docklands in opposition to the biennial event.

One of the world’s biggest arms fairs opens in London on Tuesday amid signs that Gordon Brown, prime minister, wants to change the way Britain sells arms abroad and as the show’s organiser tries to offload the business. The four-day exhibition in the city’s Docklands, the fifth biennial arms fair, is described by Reed Elsevier, the organisers, as the fastest-growing defence show in the world. Some exhibitors go further, saying the 1,300 companies from more than 30 countries at the show make it the largest defence exhibition in Europe. But arms fairs are a sensitive business. Reed Elsevier said in June that putting them on was no longer compatible with its publishing business.

Activist group the Space Hijackers' have acquired a Saracen Mk 1 armored personal carrier which they have announced they plan to sell to the highest bidder during the Defence Systems and Equipment International arms fair, which opens in London's EXCEL centre on the 11th Sept. They comment that the final use to which the tank will be put is not their concern. Though not official delegates at DSEI the Space Hijackers' claim to have learned the arms dealing trade from the experts, who many claim show a degree of disregard for the end use of the the products they sell. The Space Hijackers' plan to drive the vehicle to the arms fair tomorrow.

In recent weeks, horrifying reports of gun crime have, understandably, been increasing the fear of guns among the British public. Next week, the Metropolitan police will also have guns on their minds. They will be guarding people selling them. From September 11-14, about 1,000 officers per day will be policing Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEI), one of the world's largest arms fairs. It will take place at the Excel Centre in east London, with more than 1,000 arms companies selling weapons ranging from handguns to fighter jets. When DSEI was last held, it cost taxpayers over £4m in policing costs.

An arms fair taking place in London this week will be run for the last time by its current owner Reed Elsevier, which is putting it up for sale. Campaigners say they believe it may be the beginning of the end for the military exhibition. Opponents of the arms trade, including anti-poverty NGOs and church groups, have long argued that promoting military exports degrades development, increases conflict and contributes to human rights abuses.

Today at 0630am a small group of activists locked shut the gates of Norwich based arms manufacturer MSI. A low loader lorry which arrived, it is believed, to transport equipment to the DSEi arms fair was also locked on to by an activist after it forced its way through the barricade already set up. Simultaneously another small group had entered from the rear of the compound and inspected the facility, taking photos, climbing on roofs and leaving a couple of banners as a memento of their visit.

Killing people in conflict zones is a profitable business (seven million since 1989, with 75% of those civilians). If it wasn’t, then the Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi) wouldn’t be around. As one of the word’s biggest arms fairs, organisers promise that they’ll be something for everyone whether army, navy, air force or self-employed mercenary. The death show kicks off on 11th September with an Armageddon ridden agenda running until Friday 14th. When it last ran in 2005 the show was home for over 1,000 exhibitors with 20,000 visitors from more than 70 countries.

Pixies strike again in Oxford, this time to shut down a certain arms fair, and also to promote a certain political ideology...

It’s been a hectic week in Brighton as Smash EDO and Sussex Police once again faced off over the presence of US arms manufacturer EDO MBM in the town. Local campaigners, having appealed for a national presence of peace activists for a protest camp, pitched up in Wild Park in Moulsecoomb - cheekily situated right behind EDOs main factory site on Home Farm Rd. SchNEWS had eyes on the ground...

The Ministry of Defence has given security passes to 38 employees of the arms giant BAE, allowing them to go in and out of the ministry's headquarters as they please, it has been revealed. The disclosure has triggered accusations that the relationship between the MoD and BAE is too close and allows the arms company to exert too much political influence over the government.

Sussex police have dropped another criminal investigation of a protester who took part in a student anti-war demonstration outside EDO MBM on 21 May 2007. The curious protester was arrested on suspicion of Aggravated Trespass after entering the EDO MBM car park by slipping through a gap between two police officers guarding an entrance. He made it to the front door of the building, which was unfortunately locked, before being apprehended. He was then taken away and held at Hollingbury Detention Centre for over 14 hours before being released without charge on draconian and unlawful bail conditions.

How can they spend that? Have Prada moved into tanks? Maybe they now buy these things at fashion shows, where a commentator gasps: "Ooh, my, my!" as down the catwalk comes this exhilarating design for the very latest satellite-guided armour-penetrating missile modelled here by Kate Moss, designed, of course, by Stella McCartney, and "sure to be this summer's big bold hit when it comes to melting the Hizbollah".

For several hours on Sunday people handed out fliers explaining to people in Canning Town that DSEi (Defence System Equipment International) and the world's largest arms fair will be at the ExCeL centre from September 11-14. We received a generally warm response with several people asking how they could get more involved, or what they could do to protest the fact that this death fair was coming to their community in only just over a month.

The Space Hijackers and several anti-DSEi activists ran a stall on Brick Lane Market in East London this Sunday. The aim of the stall was to raise awareness of the worlds largest arms fair, raise funds to help us buy a tank, and invite people along to the protests on September 11th.

To coincide with the Disarm DSEi call for two days of action against the arms trade stateofemergency picketed the Bloomsbury armed forces recruitment centre, people will be going armed with placards and fliers to give a counter view of what life is like in the army. With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan raging the chances of being killed and injured have increased dramatically over the past few years. But even if ex-services personnel make it back alive many are still scared for life from their experiences.

DESO promotes the sales of British arms around the world. Although the government has announced that it will be shut, this work will simply be moved to the DTI. London CAAT and others demonstrated outside DESO and the adjacent armed forces recruitment office. This was part of two days of action against the arms trade called by Disarm DSEi ( http://www.dsei.org/)

EDO MBM were visited on Sunday as part of the two days of action against the arms trade called for by Disarm DSEi. It was thought their Brighton factory needed to be made secure from those who work there, so D-locks were put on the gates and super glue was applied to the locks. Additionally, it was thought that the building could do with some redecoration and relabelling. So "EDO Kill for $" and "Stop the War Machine" can now be read on the walls.

Mid morning on Monday 30th July a small group of protestors visited Raytheon systems on 80 Park Lane. A couple of people ventured onto a ledge about the entrance way with a banner reading, 'smart bombs, stupid wars'. Some other people entered the building to question people working inside about why they help manufacture weapons that have such devastating impact on human lives. Outside people handed out leaflets and talked through the megaphone to those inside and other people on Park Lane. After an hour the group decided to move on to Erinys, at 25 Grosvenor Street. Erinys is a private security firm with 14,000 mercenaries working for them in Iraq.

A nondescript large industrial unit in Lenton, Nottingham had its anonymity taken away by local Disarm DSEI / anti-arms trade protesters on Tuesday when they descended on Heckler and Koch's UK headquarters. H&K are the world's second largest maker of pistols and machine-guns for soldiers and death squads across the world, including Turkey, Iran, Mexico, Thailand, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Burma/Myanmar.

There's been a bit of flooding, in case you hadn't noticed, and there's a degree of concern about the amount of money going into flood defences in the UK (Not Enough, is the general view, which is about right). With that in mind, it's nice to note the Government announcing billions of pounds is to be spent combating water-related problems by, er, building the two 65,000 ton aircraft carriers they've been looking at since about the time HMS Dreadnought was launched. Perhaps they can build them in Tewkesbury.

The government has approved arms exports to 19 of the 20 countries it has identified as "countries of concern" for abusing human rights, according to the annual report on its weapons exports released yesterday. They include Saudi Arabia, Israel, Colombia, China and Russia. "It's hard to see how this squares with the messages from the new foreign secretary that the UK should be a 'force for good'," said Roy Isbister, of Saferworld, an independent research organisation.

About 30-40 people gathered at the UK headquarters of Heckler & Koch, the world's second-largest manufacturer of handguns, assault rifles, submachine guns, machine guns and grenade launchers. It was recently found out that their HQ is based on an industrial estate in Lenton, Nottingham so some people decided to pay them a visit.

At a peaceful demonstration against Brighton arms company EDO MBM yesterday a protester was arrested and a sound system seized in the latest show of force by Sussex police. Police used an obscure council bylaw which has never been used in a prosecution to confiscate the equipment. Last week the same protester had charges for a public order offence dropped after having to spend two days in court.

Sussex police have dropped prosecutions against Dan Glass, head of Sussex University Students' Union, and Marcus Wise, anti-arms trade activists involved in protests against Brighton arms manufacturers EDO MBM. Both were arrested, on two separate occasions, under Section 5 of the 1986 Public Order Act (for using language or behaviour intended to cause harassment alarm or distress). The arrests were made in connection with regular demonstrations outside the factory.

When Tony Blair was Prime Minister, he insisted that the reason the The Serious Fraud Office investigation into BAE corruption and the payments to the Saudi royal family had to be dropped was for reasons of national security. So, if that was true then we should expect a refusal to co-operate with the American investigation. Refusing to co-operate with an American corruption investigation could have negative consequences for Britain and would cause further worry in Washington about Britain's relationship with the USA. If Britain does decide to co-operate and hand over the evidence collected so far by the SFO then that, presumably, would either create 'national security' issues for Britain or expose Blair and Lord Goldsmith's assertions as a pack of lies.

A potential diplomatic collision with the US is looming over the corruption allegations against the arms company BAE. The department of justice in Washington has formally demanded that Britain hand over all evidence of secret payments the company made to members of the Saudi royal family to secure huge arms deals.

British arms manufacturer BAE Systems is locked in negotiations for a new multibillion-pound deal to sell military aircraft to Saudi Arabia, just six months after the Government scrapped a corruption inquiry into a huge arms deal between the firm and the Saudis. Opposition MPs last night demanded to know whether the new deal for 60 Hawk training aircraft was a factor when representations were made by the Saudis last year to have the corruption investigation scrapped.

The FIT Team, the part of the Metropolitan police who spy on activists, arrived about 30 minutes before the meeting was due to start. This time though, as well as being faced with the June rain, they came face to face with two large banners and a few smaller ones making it impossible to take photos of people attending the meeting. The stand off was fairly good natured. The police seemed a bit annoyed at not being able to take photos unhindered, and even more annoyed that people were filming and photographing them for a change.

Two anti-war activists who scaled the well-trodden roof of Brighton arms dealers EDO MBM for a rooftop occupation were acquitted on a charge of Aggravated Trespass this Wednesday at Brighton magistrates. Last august during the Israel/Lebanon conflict they hung a banner from EDO's roof reading '16 Children Killed In Qana, Lebanon. EDO Profits From Murder'.

BAE, Britain's biggest arms company, was today forced to admit that the US government has launched a criminal investigation into allegedly corrupt deals with Saudi Arabia. The admission sent BAE's shares plunging by more than 11% at one stage today, wiping £1.6bn off its stock market value. They had recovered to 407.75p by the close, but were still down almost 8% on the day, cutting the company's market value by just over £1bn.

Five Bristol residents were charged on Monday 18th June with 2 charges relating to their occupation of BAE Systems in Filton, Bristol on Thursday 26th April this year. The group occupied an office in New Filton House, the Bristol HQ of the arms firm, for one and a half hours. Hanging a banner reading 'BAE Systems: Corruption and Destruction: Business as Usual' from the office, the group were drawing attention to the dropped Serious Fraud Office investigation into corruption with the Al-Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia.

Five Bristol residents were charged on Monday 18th June with 2 charges relating to their occupation of BAE Systems in Filton, Bristol on Thursday 26th April this year. The group occupied an office in New Filton House, the Bristol HQ of the arms firm, for one and a half hours. Hanging a banner reading 'BAE Systems: Corruption and Destruction: Business as Usual' from the office, the group were drawing attention to the dropped Serious Fraud Office investigation into corruption with the Al-Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia.

BAE gave Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia an airliner as part of Britain's al-Yamamah arms deal, and the arms firm is still paying the expenses of flying it, the Guardian can disclose. The top of the range, four-engine Airbus 340, worth £75m, was painted in the silver and blue colours of Bandar's favourite American football team, the Dallas Cowboys, and is said to have been presented to him on his birthday in 1998.

The Defence Manufacturers Association (DMA) is a private company that acts as a lobby group for the UK arms industry. Along with The Society for British Aerospace (SBAC), the DMA is one of the two most powerful lobby groups for the UK arms industry and sits on the National Defence Industry Council (NDIC), a ‘restricted UK eyes only’ forum with Government defence ministers and military industry corporate CEOs. Companies must be members of one of the two groups in order to be allowed to attend NDIC meetings.

Anti-arms trade campaigners and writers at Reed Elsevier's scientific journals today welcomed the publisher's move to pull out from organising defence shows. Reed said earlier it would sever its ties to arms fairs, bowing to pressure which included complaints from customers, shareholders and academics writing for its major titles. The owner of trade and specialist publications such as Farmers Weekly and New Scientist had faced a multi-year campaign over its involvement in five defence shows, including one in London.

Reed Elsevier announced today that it is to exit the defence exhibitions sector. This portfolio of five shows is part of Reed Elsevier's global Business division and represents around 0.5% of group annual turnover.

At 6am on Monday morning, outside the premises of EDO-MBM, Home Farm Road, Brighton, students from Sussex University,including Student Union president Dan Glass, have locked themselves to the Brighton arms factory using D-locks preventing access to the factory. One man has been arrested for aggravated trespass.

Last Tuesday saw an international get-together for hi-tech arms-dealers - The Shephard Group's Electronic Warfare 2007 at the Olympia Conference Centre. The conference punters arrived expecting to find out the latest on assassination by email but were met by a crowd of vocal protesters. Two managed to scale the roof and unfurl a banner saying 'Smart bombs - stupid wars'. Others got into the event by saying they were there with the 'Affinity Group', and, after 'sneaking around for a bit' and pocketing killware freebies, they resorted to the traditional tactic of disrupting the conference with shouts of "Murderer! Child kill..arghh," before being cut short and bundled away by burly thugs in ill fitting suits.

CAAT's first 'Control BAE' campaign action took place at BAE Systems' Annual Shareholder meeting in May. CAAT supporters hold a number of 'token shares' in BAE Systems which enables them to attend the company's AGM. The AGM is the one time in the year when board directors face shareholders to discuss the company's activities, and provides CAAT supporters with a chance to directly challenge the board about BAE's deadly trade.

Handicap International studied data from nine countries most heavily affected by the weapon and found that about 440m cluster bomblets had been dropped there since 1965. Based on failure rates of 5-30%, the group estimated that 22m-132m of the devices remain unexploded.

Today the Olympia Conference centre in central London hosted the annual 'Electronic warfare' conference, where arms dealers converged to sell 'high tech.' murder equipment to each other. People who are involved in campaigning against the arms trade were not going to let it go unnoticed.

Today, 9th May 2007, London hosted the Annual General Meeting of British Aerospace (BAE). Protesting outside the BAE AGM I meet Benny. He is from Papua New Guinea. He told me that in 1977 when he was a child his village was bombed by Indonesian BEA Hawk Jets. During a series of air raids on his and many other villages a large numbers of people where killed, injured and displaced. He was seriously wounded in the leg. He and others were forced to abandon their villages, he spent 5 years in the jungle where Traditional medicine helped him survive his injuries. He eventually found his way to the UK where his leg is now undergoing reconstructive surgery.

On Thursday 26th April 5 activists succeeded in occupying offices at BAE systems in Filton for one and a half hours, as part of a DIY Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and crimes of genocide investigation.
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When faced with CS gas pointed in their faces by police, the investigators sat down and formed a solid circle with interlocking arms, peacefully refusing to leave until the investigation was completed into the dropped Serious Fraud Office case into the Al-Yamamah Saudi arms deal, where millions of pounds of our taxpayers money has disappeared into a slushy black hole. Needless to say, these requests for information were met with more blank stares as BAE cannot come clean about this: the numbers just don't add up. Perhaps KPMG, BAE Systems' accountancy firm, could provide some answers.

If things aren't tough enough aleady for citizens attempting to take on the mighty bureaucratic beast of a legal system, it seems that they're no just up against the beaks but some of the birds too. It happened outside Brighton and Hove Magistrates court last week when a seagull whisked the defense's skeleton argument out of the barrister's hand just before it was about to be handed to the man on high. Whisperings of 'conspiracy' grew louder as the bird shat on the carefully constructed document before scattering it around the front of the court building. (And "a seagull stole my defense, sir" just sounds so-o lame!) Maybe it was moonlighting as a police stool pigeon...?

All the allegations involved Marcus making public political statements at demonstrations (through a megaphone) to numerous witnesses, often expressed with biting satirical wit. These statements were either critical of the EDO MBM bomb building factory, which has been the subject of anti-war protests for over three years, or a certain police officer who guards the factory on regular occasions, or Sussex Police in general for their collusion with the corporation in bringing an abusive high court harassment injunction against protesters in 2005-6, which later collapsed.

Five protesters against the arms trade were arrested yesterday after a break-in at a BAE Systems facility at Filton near Bristol. Avon and Somerset police said four men and a woman, all aged between 20 and 50, were held on suspicion of burglary. In an earlier statement to a BBC journalist the group said they were protesting against the dropping of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The Campaign Against Arms Trade, which has sought a judicial review of the SFO's decision, said it had played no part in the incident.

We are a group of individuals who have decided not to stand by and accept this take over of our society by murdering, cheating, lying gangs of thugs like BAE Systems. We're going to fight the arms trade until it disappears. We're going to keep on laughing at the myth that any corporation will act responsibly, it will only ever act in the interests of its shareholders, who are made of other corrupt organisations. Quite simply, we're not going to let BAE get away with it, and we hope you wont either.

The protesters’ defense team had been arguing that EDO-MBM’s trade (with the Israeli military) was illegal and that they are complicit in war crimes committed in Lebanon and Gaza last summer. The three protesters had locked themselves to concrete barrels outside the gates of Brighton-based arms company EDO-MBM during Israel’s 34 day offensive in Lebanon, which left over one thousand dead. The campaigners are charged with 'preventing lawful activity'

In an efficient few moments of consensus decision making, we chose against the spot 'designated' for us by ExCeL, and instead claimed a much more effective pitch on the covered walkway from the Docklands Light Railway Custom House station. 'Fraid I missed the first musical contribution, while mounting signs, placards and banners on the walkway's balustrade. Second up were Raised Voices [2], the socialist choir with whom I sing, giving of our best to a series of anti-arms trade and pro-peace songs – and sometimes almost being marginalised by the chatter of the thousands of people passing by to register for the following day's London marathon. And last but by no means least were the Big Red Band, drawing lots of folks attention with brassy renditions of many a left-leaning tune.

The UK is covertly trying to oust the head of the world's main anti-bribery watchdog to prevent criticism of ministers and Britain's biggest arms company, BAE, the Guardian has learned. The effort to remove Mark Pieth comes as his organisation has stepped up its investigation into the British government's decision to kill off a major inquiry into allegations that BAE paid massive bribes to land Saudi arms deals.

BAE Systems have admitted paying a private investigation agency to gather information on activists and groups including Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). BAE paid £2,500 per month to LigneDeux Associates, whose agent Paul Mercer passed information about CAAT to BAE's Director of Security, Mike McGinty. BAE insist that they expected Paul Mercer to operate within the law, but he has now admitted providing them with a legally privileged document internal to CAAT. This document concerned the impending judicial review of the Serious Fraud Office decision to end an inquiry into BAE's arms deals with Saudi Arabia.

EDO MBM have removed references to the 'Zero Force Retention Arming Unit' from their UK website just a few days before it was to be used as evidence in the defence of three anti war protesters. The trial of the three begins on Monday 23rd at Brighton Magistrates Court. The move is just the latest in a history of attempts to hide the truth about what the Brighton arms firm is up to. The EDO MBM ZF RAU is an essential part of the main bomb rack of the Israeli F16, used to commit war crimes in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories. Under UK law anyone who acts to assist war criminals is guilty of an offence under the ICC, Geneva Conventions, and Criminal Law acts.

Reed Elsevier's board today struggled to defend their reputation at an AGM dominated by criticism of their role in the arms trade. Reed is best known as an academic and medical publisher but most questions concentrated on their subsidiary business running arms fairs. Meanwhile academics, medics and students joined Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) in a peaceful protest outside the building.

Chris Osmond, campaigner against Brighton arms manufacturer EDO MBM, was found not guilty of 'inciting another to breach a police order' at Brighton Magistrates today. The case related to a demonstration on August 13th 2005, when forty peace protestors were prevented from marching down Brighton's North St by over 100 police.Although four people were arrested on the day only Mr Osmond was charged under Section 12 of the Public Order Act.

Up until 1975 the MOD had been an active and enthusiastic participant in the bribes culture. Harold Hubert was the MOD's main seller of weapons. His strategy was to inflate the prices of his weapons to cover the cost of a slush fund used for bribery. He would pay "agents" public money to fix deals with various countries around the world. These agents had access to the highest echelons in the countries in question and they would pass on these funds in order to guarantee that the sale went ahead.

The British government was harshly rebuked today by the world's leading anti-bribery watchdog over its decision to terminate a major corruption investigation into the UK's biggest arms company, BAE. The watchdog stepped up the pressure on ministers by deciding to send international inspectors to London to find out why the Serious Fraud Office investigation into Saudi arms deals was stopped.

a creative protest against the blood £ money that EDO MBM makes and a salute to the activists who won a battle but not yet the war, we fight on for life and good and right.

the 'defence export services organisation' is a government department that directly promotes and subsidises the uk arms export business. with nearly 500 civil servants, it is unique in its support for a particular sector of british industry and with its use of taxpayers' money to protect the huge profits of private business engaged in the proliferation of weapons around the world

From 11-14 September, DSEi (Defence Systems Equipment International), the world’s largest arms fair, returns to East London’s ExCeL Centre. Despite massive local opposition, and a huge bill to the taxpayer, arms
dealers will once again be free to deal in death and destruction. “Stop the War” (whichever war) is useless sloganeering unless it is accompanied by a commitment to stopping the global arms trade. No wars will never stop whilst weapon sales are a booming capitalist business worth in the region of $40 billion a year.

At 5am 8 Sussex University Students locked themselves to the gate and fence of EDO MBM, Brighton's very own arms dealers. This is the third blockade of the factory since the bombing of Lebanon last Summer. It forms part of the four year campaign to shut down the factory in Brighton. The gates were successfully shut despite violence from EDO MBM's private security, Guardian Guards (including a Yorkshire Terrier called Emily)

On Saturday 10 February 2007, around 200 Cambridge students took part in a demonstration against investment by their colleges in the arms trade. Organised by Cambridge Students Against the Arms Trade (CSAAT), the participants assembled outside the Guildhall and marched around the the centre of Cambridge with chanting and banners before assembling on the lawn of the Senate House (where cards were checked so that only members of the university were admitted) to listen to speakers who included the local M.P. David Howarth.

The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, changed his mind about whether there was enough evidence to bring corruption charges against the arms company BAE after pressure from Downing Street, legal sources have told the Guardian.
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Having reviewed the SFO's files, Lord Goldsmith agreed that BAE could, in effect, be offered a plea bargain in which investigators would drop further potentially politically embarrassing inquiries if the company agreed to plead guilty to these relatively minor charges. But within 48 hours the agreement was countermanded after decisions taken in Downing St, Whitehall sources said.

The manner in which the criminal investigation of alleged corruption was halted by the attorney general in relation to BAE Systems, like the Suez example, shows how fragile and inadequate are our present constitutional arrangements for protecting the rule of law. This scandal will not bring down the government. But it has gravely eroded public confidence in the government's integrity and it will be an unsavoury part of Tony Blair's precious legacy.

The Conservatives and the former international development secretary Clare Short are due to challenge the government today on corruption allegations over the sale of an expensive military radar system to Tanzania in 2001 by the arms company BAE. The Guardian recently disclosed that BAE made secret payments of $12m (£6.13m) into a Swiss account to cement the deal, representing a 30% commission charged on top of the price.

On Tuesday 15 masked activists entered the car park and loading bay of EDO MBM, Brighton warmongers manufacturing arms for the UK, US and Israel blowing claxon horns and sounding sirens to signify that the Smash EDO campaign is not going away until EDO closes down. View the video of the anonymous demo here. Smash EDO plan to step up their campaign this year with weekly noise demonstrations at the factory, phone blockades, direct action and a week long protest camp this August. 2007 is the year to close EDO down.

Blair's Cancelling of the BAE/Saudi investigation was top of the agenda at the meeting of the OECD Working Group on Bribery. The explanations didn't go down well at all. The opening remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General showed that the OECD is taking this matter very seriously indeed, indeed they seem to say that how they deal with this will make or break their Anti-Bribery Convention:

Senior BAE executives were named yesterday as corruption suspects in a leaked document from the Serious Fraud Office, which has been conducting a long investigation into the firm's international arms deals. BAE's chief executive, Mike Turner, is named along with the former chairman, Sir Dick Evans, and two other executives, in a document dated June 26 last year.

Britain's secret intelligence service, MI6, has challenged the government's claim that a major corruption inquiry into Saudi Arabian arms deals was threatening national security. The attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, told parliament before Christmas that the intelligence agencies "agreed with the assessment" of Tony Blair that national security was in jeopardy because the Saudis intended to pull out of intelligence cooperation with Britain. But John Scarlett, the head of MI6, has now refused to sign up to a government dossier which says MI6 endorses this view.

I said yesterday that Tony's corruption chickens were coming home to roost, but I didn't think they're be coming this quick. Yesterday His spokesman refused to comment on the Tanzanian radar story or if he would be discussing 'good governance' with the institutionally corrupt Tanzanian government, whose President is due to meet Blair.

The UK's biggest arms supplier secretly paid a $12m commission into a Swiss account in a deal which led to Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries, buying a controversial military radar system. A Tanzanian middleman, who has a long-standing relationship with military and government figures, has admitted that the sum was covertly moved to a Swiss account by BAE Systems, which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

The chickens are coming home to roost for Tony, in particular a dodgy deal over an exorbitantly expensive military air traffic control centre for Tanzania - the proud owner of eight military planes that was described as a waste of money by everyone from Claire Short and Gordon Brown to the World Bank. Yes, Gordon. This is why I think this story will run. Blair, backed by Hewitt and Hoon, pushed through this outrageous deal just after Gordon had wiped out Tanzania's debt and he and Claire were furious.

Anti arms trade campaigners have handed in seven official complaints to the law society regarding the conduct of Timothy Lawson-Cruttenden, the solicitor who represented EDO MBM in their failed attempt to gain a civil injunction against protesters at their Brighton factory.

Campaigners in Bristol have altered a ‘benefit cheats’ billboard so the original message targeting people working illegally while on benefit, now highlights the governments decision to halt an inquiry into a corrupt arms deal with Saudi Arabia.