nti Arms Fair Campaigners Publish Map of UK Arms Dealers

For more info call Sophie Williams or Sam Johnson on 07792 813907

Disarm DSEi1 anti arms trade campaigners (www.dsei.org) have released a map showing the locations of thousands of UK arms dealers and manufacturers.

The map, available at www.dsei.org/exhibitor-map, is based on the 924 companies2 exhibiting at Defence Systems International (DSEi) – the world's largest arms fair, and reveals the arms trade is present in every community in the UK.

Sophie Williams, of Disarm DSEi, said “In 2003 millions of people took to the streets in protest at the invasion of Iraq but the state took no notice. If every local community had taken direct action against the companies fuelling the war machine, we could have stopped the war. This map is intended to be a resource for action”

Several of the listed companies, including EDO MBM/ITT and UAV Engines, are involved in the manufacture of components for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones. Lord Bingham has suggested drones may be “so cruel as to be beyond the pale of human tolerance.” EDO MBM, a Brighton based arms factory, advertise several components for the US Reaper drone, which has recently been used in assassinations of "al-Qaeda" suspects in Pakistan, killing 687 Pakistani civilians.3

Many of the companies featured on the map are involved in supplying weapons to Israel. Over 1400 people were killed during the bombardment , including over 350 children.4 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has conceded British component were used during the attack including components for F 16s and Apache Helicopters

For more info call Sophie Williams or Sam Johnson on 07792 813907or visit www.dsei.org, or www.twitter.com/disarmdsei


Notes for Editors:

1 Disarm DSEi are a group dedicated to stopping the Defence Services Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition, held biennially at the Excel centre in Docklands. DSEi runs from 8th-11th September. Disarm DSEi are calling for direct action against companies exhibiting at the fair and are holding a mass demonstration in the City of London on September 8th against the investors in the fair.

2 The 924 DSEi exhibitors included in the map range from companies manufacturing war planes, bombs and missiles, such as Boeing, BAE and Raytheon to companies providing logistical services or technological support to the military, such as Aggreko or Mott Macdonald. They also include manufacturers of rifles, tanks and missile launchers.

3 By April 2009, 687 Pakistani civilians alongside 14 people suspected of involvement with al-Qaeda, 50 civilians for every suspect.

4 Companies manufacturing components for the F 16 include BAE Systems, EDO MBM/ITT of Brighton and Brimar of Manchester.