DSEi City demo visits Arms Trade investors as police keep a low profile

Kill the Arms Trade | 08.09.2009 14:53 | Anti-militarism

Despite Disarm DSEi's refusal to negotiate with the police, the planned demo visited a number of investors in the Arms Trade. Protestors arriving at the meetup were surprised to find a very small police presence, and a noticeable lack of FIT teams and police cameras.

After about 45 minutes of milling about, the reinforced banners set up, flags went up and the 200 assembled set off towards the city, stopping first at Barclays on London Wall, where shoes were thrown at the building. Barclays is the largest investor in the global arms Trade with 7.31 Bn in shares. It also helped the financing of the takeover of DSEi by Clarion events.

Next up was Legal & General (Coleman Street) with £795m in the UK arms Industry and £2199m in the global arms trade. Post it notes were placed on windows telling the company what protestors thought of them, and more shoes were thrown.

On then to Lloyds in Gresham Street, where the entrance of one of their buildings was blocked. Lloyds are principle bankers to BAE and Qinetiq and have £717m oif shares in the UK Arms sector.

next up BT, whose building was entered by many who wanted to take BT up on their slogan "Its good to talk". They wanted to talk about the £59m of shares that BT has in the global Arms Trade.

Next up was AXA, a huge investor with investments of £2,259m in the UK Arms Trade and £6,207 in the Global Arms trade. Axa had some damage to their front doors, and a red paint bomb thrown at their sign.

The protest wound up at the back of the Stock Exchange, in Paternoster Square where activists chilled to tunes for a while before dispersing. Throughout the poilce kept a low profile, and I witnessed no arrests.

We should have taken DSEi protests to the City years ago, Make the most of post-G20 policing - the repression is likely to be even harsher when the pendulum swings back.

Kill the Arms Trade

Additions

Videos of demo

08.09.2009 14:57

http://qik.com/video/2822415 - meetup

http://qik.com/video/2822855 - Barclays

http://qik.com/video/2822889 - BT

http://qik.com/video/2822951 - AXA

linka

LH TWIT TIMELINE

08.09.2009 15:29

@16:30

# People have started to head home.about 2 hours ago from txt
# Sound system is playing dead prez. In paternoster square. People making speaches about arms trade.about 2 hours ago from txt
# Now on warick lane.about 2 hours ago from txt
# AXA Window smashed.about 2 hours ago from txt
# Now at Newgate st at AXA who invest 6207 million in arms trade.about 2 hours ago from txt
# Leaving BT. Police still in little numers.about 2 hours ago from txt
# Claps from cattring staff in bt buildingabout 2 hours ago from txt
# Bt building invaded!about 3 hours ago from txt
# Now on Newgate st.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Coming down cheapside.about 3 hours ago from txt
# On Wood st.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Passing shroders and Lloyds buildings both have connections to the arms trade.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Heading down gresham st.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Still on London Wall coming up to museum of London.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Banner dropped reading legal and general invests in the arms trade.about 3 hours ago from txt
# People writting messages on windows of Legal and General including 'wake up your work kills people'.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Shoes thrown at legal and general who invest 2199 million in arms worldwide.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Moving down London Wall. Shouts of 'bankers bankers blood on your hands'.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Shoes being thrown at barclays.about 3 hours ago from txt
# Moving down wormwood st. Passing barclays. Banner drop off bridge overhead.about 3 hours ago from txt
# On camomile st. Numbers are around 150.about 4 hours ago from txt
# Heading down dukes place.about 4 hours ago from txt
# Moving off down aldgate high st.about 4 hours ago from txt
# Small black block setting up. Photographers trying to get thier money shot.about 4 hours ago from txt
# Numbers are still small compared to previous years.about 4 hours ago from txt
# Just arrived in front of the RBS building for disarm dsei protest. Protest is due to start at 12.about 5 hours ago from txt
# Off to cover dsei protests today.about 7 hours ago from txt

Pic of banner

08.09.2009 15:32

banner pic from amelia gregory

http://img6.yfrog.com/i/j5qs.jpg

tfox

Account of the day

08.09.2009 17:56

Over 200 people gathered outside Royal Bank of Scotland in Aldgate today for a demonstration against the DSEi arms fair in docklands before marching into the city. DSEi is the world's largest arms fair and is hosting stalls by over 1000 arms companies and companies catering for the military.

The demonstration focussed on the investors in the arms fair and in the global arms trade. RBS, the start point of the demo, is the largest financier of the global arms industry, having loaned £44.6 billion to the arms trade over the last ten years.

The march moved on into The City. Police, afraid of another embarassing G20 style confrontation, kept a minimal presence. A banner, saying 'Barclays Invests in the Arms Trade' was hung from a bridge over London Wall close to Barclays Head Office. Barclays are the largest UK investor in the global arms trade with £7.3 billion in shares in arms companies. It also helped fund the purchase of Clarion, the organiser of the DSEi arms fair, by investment company VSS. Demonstrators hurled shoes at the building as an expression of disgust and contempt at Barclays complicity in the arms trade.

Next up was Legal and General, who hold millions of pounds worth of shares in the UK and global arms industries. Again, the building was pelted with shoes and demonstrators pasted notes on the building's windows calling for divestment. A banner was hung from a road bridge to let the public know about Legal and General's investments.

Lloyds bank on Gresham Street was besieged by demonstrators expressing their anger at the bank's provision of loans to producers of cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions.

Scores of demonstrators poured through the doors of British Telecom, who have £59 million in share in the arms trade, and occupied their lobby.

Demonstrators then surrounded AXA, another large investor, threw paint bombs and smashed a window.

The demo finished in Paternoster Square, Outside the London Stock Exchange

disarmer