Firstly, the Disarm DSEi event happened on Friday the 30th.

It wasn't a massive turn out, probably around a dozen or so people.

It is correct that Spearhead had moved out of their offices on the day before the action. No one can really be blamed for not knowing in advance that they were about to move. The second part of the day was at the offices of Reed. This is where Spearhead moved (as they are now owned by Reed) so they still got visited.

Umm, as for this action that 'did not happen' well from the remaining bits of red paint on the outside of the building it appears that the action (that has been discredited on previous threads) probably did happen.

Hopefully there are some photos from the 30th April event that show that something did occur.

The Disarm DSEi name is far from discredited. They've pretty much done everything (to lesser or greater degrees of hype and/or attendence) that they've announced.

I agree that these events are small and pathetic and if you do manage to organise something spectacular good luck to you.

What a strange news article? DSEI's organisers, Spearhead, have been forced on the run and DISARM DSEi had allways planned to visit both sites anyway (the now vacted spearhead building and the office of their parent company Reed buisnesses).

Second you mention an action which you claim didnt happen, this picture was offered as evidence that it did;  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/03/60479.html

And you claim "some of us where there and saw the building", um is that beacause you work for Reed / Spearhead? Dickhead.

We decided not to go to the event at Spearhead because of all the confusion over what was happening and who was organising it. A fiends of ours did attend but he left when he said it was obvious that Spearhead had vacated the office. I just called and asked if he saw any paint on the building and he said no but then he did admit he wasn't looking for some.

We certainly feel the disarm dsei organisation has made mistakes, the lack of support for all the people at ITEC was a serious error especialy as it now turns out there was considerably more support for that protest at ITEC that there was for this one at Spearhead. We went to the ITEC protest and when I spoke to others there a number of people said they felt the disarm dsei organisation had been taken over by a clique who wanted to control all the anti-arms trade protests and were not keen to see others organise their own.

The turnout at Spearhead sounds disappointing but I have to say the organisers have only themselves to blame. A time for a new organising structure is here I feel.

No armies

Disarm DSEI are far from discredited, in fact the recent disinformation campaign launched against them on indymedia is evidence of their effectiveness.

dont believe everything you read in the media (that includes here)

is it possible to have more info on the protests that happened at ITEC?? I remember seeing lots arount the time it happened then no-one published any action reports about it afterwards.

Also I don't remember any posts suggesting that DISARM DSEi weren't happy with other people organising anti-arms trade stuff - but please let me know if I'm wrong.
xxx

There seems to be a trend here where any critic of the dsei disarm organisation is quickly called a spy or a government troublemaker. We have a right to make clear our concerns if we have responded to a call to demonstrate.

It may be easy for some people but for others it may well mean a day off work, a train ticket to be paid for, a bed to be arranged etc. I was unable to attend the Spearhead protest because of child care commitments but if I had of come it would have entailed a train from Manchester followed by a bus to the site. If I had of made it and found we were outside an empty office I would have been very pissed off.

The above poster is right to point out a cock-up if it happended. I would have thought organising a protest outside a the office of a company that moved away constitues a cock-up ! The failure to support the protest at ITEC was just sour grapes on somebody's part, a case of "Not our event, so it doesn't matter"

The Disarm Dsei organisation does come across as arrogant and a little discredited regardless of what you might think. I will need a convincing before I support you in the future.

Remember without us you don't have a protest.

I am speechless

1. I have every bloddy right to complain when I am asked to attend and event and it turns out we are picketing outside an empty building. Don't tell me I was alone in being pissed off because you know I wasn't. A subsequent phone call to Spearhead showed they had moved out six days beforehand so don't tell me it was "the night before".

2. The picture of the building with the paint on isn't even the Spearhead building ! Do you think we are stupid or something ?

3. No I do not work for Spearhead or Reed. Face up to your balls up and apologise to those of us that made the effort to support this day and were then fucked around.

I attended the protests at ITEC. I came down with five friends and we met a group from London at Waterloo. There were about fifty of us on the Docklands Light Railway who went on to Excel after we had handed out leaflets at Waterloo. There was a minimal police interest beyond the usual questions.

We arrived at Custom House Hotel to be greeted by a great crowd of about 100, a small samba band was there who kept on the noise as the arms dealers walked past us. We handed out leflets to them but most ened up on the floor ( a policewoman said we were littering !)

There was an attempt to enter the building via the river side but we didn't make it as they locked all the doors. We stood outside and kept up the protest for most of the morning. There was some police and security filming and a helicopter was around for a while. some people left at lunchtime but a fantastic van with a sound sytem (who were you ?) came late in the day so we could see the sum off the premises for the evening. I did hear there was a group who locked on to one of the DLR trains but I never saw this myself.

I went along on the 30th:

When people arrived at the Apex Tower, New Malden, there were signs on the windows saying that Spearhead had vacated the building. The group asked for confirmation from the building manager that this was true. One person was shown up to the 8th floor (Spearhead's old floor) and shown that it was empty. The building manager confirmed that Spearhead had moved over the last few days, and had only finished moving on the 29th.

After confirming that they had moved, the group talked amongst themselves and agreed to leave, and regroup at 1pm as advertised at Reed Exhibitions in Richmond, where Spearhead have moved to.

Anyone who turned up late or couldn't find people could have phoned the Disarm DSEi phone to find out what was going on.

At 1pm there was a very successful demonstration, helped by the samba band and lots of banners. People who walked past were really interested in why we were there.

I don't understand the problem with the ITEC demo because as stated in a previous posting on Indymedia ( http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/04/289671.html), Disarm DSEi supports all action against the arms trade, including that taken against ITEC. It would be nice to see photos from this, as it sounds like it was a successful day.

The picture cited by db (at  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/03/60479.html ) is of the Spearhead building but from an action that took place in 2003 (look at the date on the posting). No pics have been posted of the paint still on Apex Tower. But if you are especially curious, go and look, round the bottom of the window frame on the lefthand side when facing the building.

Personally I had a good day on the 30th and would like to thank the Disarm people for organising it.

It seems that protestors were happy to support the ITEC demo but not the Spearhead demo. A lesson there I think ?