Activists from a variety of Cardiff groups began a picket this morning at 10am outside the Cardiff International Arena, the exhibition centre where the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul conference 2003 is taking place. For several hours around 100 people picketed the conference centre, with the occasional delegate trying their luck at persuading us that it was not an arms show. A quick glance at the MRO website,  http://www.awgnet.com/conferences/meumain.htm reveals exactly what the priorities are for this conference. World renowned “investors in peace” such as Raytheon (who make Tomahawk cruise missiles, Stinger missiles and Paveway bombs), Rolls Royce (who manufacture the engines for approximately 25% of the world’s military aircraft, as well as the propulsion systems for the UK’s nuclear submarines) and Boeing (who make the F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter, the F-15E Eagle fighter-bomber and the AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter) are all present at the fair. One of tomorrow’s sessions is titled “Military Maintenance Planning” and the description of the session begins “With Eurofighter, Joint Strike Fighter and the A400M coming up there is a lot to support.”

There is indeed a lot to support, but peace is obviously not one of the favoured topics for discussion. After two hours in the sun, the protestors from a range of groups including CND, CAAT, Women in Black, Cardiff Anarchist Network, Cardiff Social Forum, Stop the War coalition, Friends of the Earth, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party took direct action against the conference when a bus full of delegates started to move off for a tour of one of the local repair facilities. Both entrances to the CIA were blockaded and the delegates were left to swelter on their bus for 45 minutes until police reinforcements arrived, and the protestors were finally dragged out of the way. All in all it was a successful demo that left the so-called “civilian” contractors under no illusions that for however much the Welsh Assembly might grease their hands to come to Wales, local people are not interested in having these death-mongerers in their town. The next two days of the conference can expect no less of a welcome!