Farnborough targeted online
The Farnborough International Airshow takes place annually in July and this year went online. That didn’t stop us from following it there and pointing out that it is an arms fair. When companies such as BAE Systems and Raytheon are giving talks and likely meeting military delegations virtually (in 2018 Farnborough invited representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates Bahrain: all part of the coalition that has so devastated Yemen), you’re an arms fair.
There were also sessions on combat aircraft design and insights from young professionals in defence and aerospace, featuring companies like Boeing Defence, MBDA Missile Systems and Rolls Royce. Stop the Arms Fair’s Twitter actively targeted the fair, following their schedule closely and highlighting the true nature of the companies speaking at the show. Check out their Twitter feed for the fantastic series of tweets they posted.
Government resumes arms sales to Saudi Arabia
Last month the government made the ludicrous decision to resume licensing arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen. These arms sales were put on hold following CAAT’s victory at the Court of Appeal last year. In light of this move, CAAT will be exploring all options available to challenge this decision.
The basis for this decision was the Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss’ written statement that said the government had completed that review, and concluded that war crimes committed in the attacks on Yemen were “isolated incidents”. Which is manifestly untrue – the bombings of weddings and funerals, schools and hospitals prove otherwise and are a pattern of repeated breaches of International Humanitarian Law.
The UK government is complicit in this through the licensing of at least £5.3 billion of arms sales since the war began in 2015. UK weapons – warplanes, bombs and missiles – are being used by the Saudi-led forces in Yemen. This has to stop for the sake of innocent civilians in Yemen.
Read more about the resumption of sales here.
Our meetings
Our meetings are still taking place online so if you want to attend a meeting, please send an email to londoncaat at riseup.net and we will send you details. The meetings are the third Tuesday of every month at 6.30pm.