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April update – the government are being taken to court over arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Legal challenge to Saudi arms sales

On April 9-11th, CAAT will be bringing an appeal to court regarding the legality of the government’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia. A High Court ruling in July 2017 rejected CAAT’s case that the government’s issuing of export licences to Saudi Arabia for military equipment contravened the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. You can read more about the case here. As the war on Yemen enters it’s fifth year, we need to keep the pressure. Please sign and share the petition to stop the arms sales here.

In the week that Jeremy Hunt ludicrously said that ending the UK’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE would be “morally bankrupt”, it is more important than ever we to continue to tell the government to stop these heinous arms sales. It was great to see the five opposition parties call on the Foreign Secretary to Stop Arming Saudi. The UK’s complicity in the devastation wreaked on Yemen is shocking and immoral and it must be challenged every step of the way.

A walking tour of arms companies

We have been discussing what action we can take in the run up to the DSEI arms fair and we will be doing a walking tour around some of the arms companies in our city. We will do a whistle-stop tour of six arms companies, including old ‘favourites’ such as BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin. It will be a fun way of highlighting the presence of these companies in our city and linking them to DSEI. We are planning to do it on May 25th so keep an eye out for future announcements

Next London CAAT meeting, April 16th

At our next meeting, we will continue to plan our walking tour and look at other ways to resist DSEI. Do join us! We will be meeting on Tuesday April 16th at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park and the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU.

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March update – It Starts Here – join the resistance to the DSEI arms fair

It Starts Here conference, March 9-10th

Every two years, the world’s largest arms fair rolls into East London. Every two years, we resist this horrendous event with passionate and inventive protests. Come along on March 9-10th to build on the amazing resistance to the last DSEI. See here for a report of the brilliant ways people obstructed the fair in 2017.

DSEI brings together arms companies with military delegations from countries, including those from human rights abusing regimes and countries involved in conflict. In 2017, nine authoritarian regimes were invited to attend (Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Vietnam) and six were identified by our own government as ‘human rights priority countries’ (Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia). You can read more about DSEI here.

On these days, we will skillshare and learn, link up and discuss. There will be workshops, panels and space to meet people and build the strength of the resistance. It will be a warm and friendly place where you can meet/join migrant solidarity groups, anti-nuclear crews, LGBTQIA+ folk and Palestine solidarity activists among others and work on how best to resist DSEI.

You can get your ticket here and there are more details on the Facebook event, including the programme. With a mass movement to oppose DSEI, we can shut it down.

Yemeni crisis meeting, March 12th

Join North London Stop the War for a free talk on British arms and Saudi Arabia. With the UK supplying £4.7bn of weapons to the Saudi regime, they are complicit in the devastation wreaked on Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition. The UN estimates 14 million people in Yemen are on the brink of starvation due to the war. You can get tickets here.

Next London CAAT meeting, March 19th

We had a fantastic meeting last month where we had a deep dive into DSEI and what we as London CAAT might do to resist it. We came up with some great ideas so at our next meeting we will try to pin down some concrete plans. Do join us! We will be meeting on Tuesday March 19th at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park and the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU.

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February update – Stand in solidarity with Bahraini protesters



Day of Rage 8th anniversary protest, February 14th

February 14th will be 8 years since the Day of Rage in Bahrain began the movement for democacy and social justice. With assistance from the Saudi Arabian military, the Bahraini regime brutally crushed the movement.

London CAAT will join the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) from 2pm outside the Bahrain Embassy. We will stand steadfast beside our friends from BIRD and in solidarity with all those imprisoned by the regime for simply expressing their desire for a just and democratic society.

Through over £100 million worth of arms licensed to the Bahraini regime, the UK government is complicit in the oppressive behaviour of the regime, which has involved targeting activists and torturing critics. The regime has resorted to stripping citizenship from Bahraini citizens and even threatened the families of pro-democracy campaigners.

Join us outside the Bahrain Embassy, 30 Belgrave Square, Knightsbridge, SW1X 8QB from 2pm on the 14th. See and share the Facebook event here.

Arms dealers not allowed to dine in peace

On January 23rd, arms dealers gathered for the annual Aerospace, Defence and Security organisation dinner. They received a ‘warm welcome’ from protesters as they gathered to celebrate their ‘achievements’ and were not allowed to dine in peace. Protesters gathered outside the hotel to peacefully challenge them and remind them of the great harm their trade causes, particularly in countries such as Yemen.

Protesters were manhandled by police and security guards as they tried to block entrance to the dinner and ask attendees whether their conscience allowed them to recognise the harm their trade is responsible for. They were also confronted with chants of ‘Blood on your Hands’ and banners saying ‘arms dealers dine while Yemen starves’. We also played a video from the Yemeni journalist Ahmad Algohbary outlining the death and destruction wreaked on his country by weapons supplied by the UK government and thanking protesters for standing with the Yemeni people. Some protesters even managed to sneak inside the hotel and leave messages asking attendees to Stop Arming Saudi Arabia.

The former Home Secretary Alan Johnson was the keynote speaker and ignored a letter from Campaign Against Arms Trade calling on him to cancel his appearance. Other MPs were also in attendance and were no doubt lobbied by the arms companies present. The demo received excellent coverage in Left Foot Forward and Open Democracy.

DSEI arms fair conference, March 9-10th

London CAAT are proud to be part of the Stop the Arms Fair coalition and will be attending their two day conference on the DSEI arms fair. Come along to skillshare and learn, link up and discuss. There will be workshops, panels and space to meet people and build opposition to the fair. Full details are here.

Next London CAAT meeting, February 19th

We have some exciting ideas about how to oppose and resist DSEI so do come to our next meeting to help us bring these plans to fruition. We will be meeting on Tuesday February 19th at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park and the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU.