East Cheshire Friends support DSEI protests
Quakers in East Cheshire Area Meeting have been holding a protest in Wilmslow
Quakers from East Cheshire supported the witness against the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair in London by holding a protest on the main street in Wilmslow. Quaker Andrew Backhouse told the Friend: ‘Seventeen Quakers joined in from the area, supporting the fourteen from the Area Meeting who had gone to the site. People passing by were leafleted, with lots of expressions of support, and even a surprise ex-Ackworth scholar.’
Friends from Wilmslow, Frandley, Crewe, Disley, and Cheadle Hulme Meetings took part in the local protest. According to Andrew Backhouse, none at the London witness that he knew of had been arrested, of the 116 of people who were.
BYM signed an open letter published in The Guardian on 9 September urging the government to put ethics at the heart of foreign policy and trading relations. It said: ‘Out of the 67 states that have received an official UK government invitation to the [DSEI] arms fair, 19 are in armed conflict and 14 are authoritarian regimes as categorised by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2018 Democracy Index.’
Comments
Friends and other peace supporters met on the steps of Stockport Art Gallery to witness against the Arms Fair ( market) Most of the demonstrators were from East Chesire Area Meeting but one Friend came from Liverpool.
By TWJ 123 on 19th September 2019 - 21:02
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