Campaign against Liverpool arms fair
'Hundreds of protesters including Friends have taken to the streets to campaign against the fair.'
Quakers are among those campaigning against an electronic arms fair that is to take place in Liverpool in October.
Hundreds of protesters including Friends have taken to the streets to campaign against the fair.
Fifty-seven Liverpool councillors issued a statement of opposition on 2 August to the arms fair, branding it ‘an insult to communities such as those of Syrian, Palestinian and Yemeni heritage’.
‘The event will bring together many of the biggest global arms companies with government and military officials from across the world. Warplanes, missile systems, drones and the technology behind them will be promoted’, said the statement.
‘A number of dictatorships and military-led Governments have used and continue to use such military equipment to repress freedoms and human rights.’
The move comes after the Labour party controversially whipped its more than seventy councillors – the vast majority of Liverpool City Council – not to vote against allowing the arms fair to take place in the city. Only a handful of councillors defied the whip and voted against the fair.
The city’s mayor, Joanne Anderson, also put her name to the list.
The organisers of AOC Europe 2021 (previously Electronic Warfare Europe 2021) are expecting to host the arms fair from 11-13 October 2021 in Liverpool.
The event was moved from Liverpool in November 2020 to Seville in May 2021 following strong campaigning. The May event did not take place but relocated back to Liverpool for October 2021.
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