Reed Elsevier pulls out of arms fairs
Elizabeth | 01.06.2007 11:38
Publishing firm Reed Elsevier has pulled out of organising arms fairs after pressure from campaigners, customers and shareholders.
The owner of trade and specialist publications such as Farmers Weekly and New Scientist has come under fire for several years for its involvement in five defence shows, including one in London.
Today it announced it was severing ties with the arms industry after complaints from opponents that included academics writing for Reed's scientific titles.
"Our defence shows are quality businesses which have performed well in recent years," said chief executive Sir Crispin Davis.
"Nonetheless, it has become increasingly clear that growing numbers of important customers and authors have very real concerns about our involvement in the defence exhibitions business.
"We have listened closely to these concerns and this has led us to conclude that the defence shows are no longer compatible with Reed Elsevier's position as a leading publisher of scientific, medical, legal and business content."
Earlier this year, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust sold its £2m stake in Reed because of concerns the publishing firm was stepping up its involvement in arms fairs despite the charity's three-year campaign to make Reed break ties to the trade.
Describing the trade as "deeply unethical and irredeemably corrupt", the trust slammed the arms fairs organised by Reed subsidiaries, which include Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi), held every two years in London and organised in association with the UK Ministry of Defence.
FTSE 100-listed Reed said today that defence shows accounted for less than 1% of group annual turnover. It hopes to pull out of the sector by the end of the year, subject to honouring its obligations to partners and customers.
It had previously maintained it viewed the defence industry as "necessary to the preservation of freedom and national security" and that its exhibitions assisted in ensuring there is a licensed, regulated and open market.
(Guardian: 01/06/07)
Today it announced it was severing ties with the arms industry after complaints from opponents that included academics writing for Reed's scientific titles.
"Our defence shows are quality businesses which have performed well in recent years," said chief executive Sir Crispin Davis.
"Nonetheless, it has become increasingly clear that growing numbers of important customers and authors have very real concerns about our involvement in the defence exhibitions business.
"We have listened closely to these concerns and this has led us to conclude that the defence shows are no longer compatible with Reed Elsevier's position as a leading publisher of scientific, medical, legal and business content."
Earlier this year, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust sold its £2m stake in Reed because of concerns the publishing firm was stepping up its involvement in arms fairs despite the charity's three-year campaign to make Reed break ties to the trade.
Describing the trade as "deeply unethical and irredeemably corrupt", the trust slammed the arms fairs organised by Reed subsidiaries, which include Defence Systems and Equipment International (DSEi), held every two years in London and organised in association with the UK Ministry of Defence.
FTSE 100-listed Reed said today that defence shows accounted for less than 1% of group annual turnover. It hopes to pull out of the sector by the end of the year, subject to honouring its obligations to partners and customers.
It had previously maintained it viewed the defence industry as "necessary to the preservation of freedom and national security" and that its exhibitions assisted in ensuring there is a licensed, regulated and open market.
(Guardian: 01/06/07)
Elizabeth
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One battle won
01.06.2007 21:44
Elsevier in Amsterdam employ British spies who spend their day searching the internet for stories. I don't know why they do. I met two young men there years ago, and they were stoned and drunk and flirting with my fiance, and so they were more talkative than they probably remember. I was in hi-security computer work myself, charming but sober, and they really seemed to check out as opposed to your normal bullshitters. I would swear they were the MI6 agents they claimed to be, I could swear they were the technical experts they claimed to be, but unfortunately they were just too drunk and stoned to get much more useful information out of beyond that. I assume they were something to do with the arms-fairs and from their conversation I assume Elsevier knew they were MI6. I know of another Dutch organisation which deliberately employed /deployed British agents but I'd rather not say who since I worked for them too. Unless you work with them, or get them very drunk, you wouldn't hear of most spies or the suspect the true numbers of agents in everyday workplaces. Call that paranoia if you want but I don't smoke. The UK is a mirror of what East Germany was.
Danny