Friends protesting against the arms fair held in Glasgow. Photo: Courtesy of Phoebe Spence.
More Glasgow arms fairs are ruled out
Friends in Glasgow have welcomed a decision by the city council
Quakers were celebrating last week after an announcement by Glasgow City Council that it will not hold arms fairs in the future, following strong protests.
Glasgow Friends were among crowds of protesters who demonstrated against the Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) conference from 26-28 June. It was sponsored by BAE Systems and Babcock International, two companies behind the next generation of Trident nuclear-armed submarines. Participants included the Israeli company DSIT Solutions Ltd, whose technology is believed to be used to enforce the blockade of Gaza.
Council deputy leader David McDonald made the statement after Green and SNP councillors pressed the council leadership for a more ethical events policy.
He said the council would protect ‘our conference and conventions business’ in a way that ‘reflects our values… You can be sure this is not the kind of event that comes to Glasgow in the future.’
Martin Mansell, from Glasgow Meeting, told the Friend that the news was ‘fantastic’. He said: ‘It just seemed completely out of order that the council should be supporting an arms fair, so I alerted Quakers all over Scotland. We sent lots of letters to the council, which seem to have had an effect.’
He added: ‘There were around sixty-seventy police, including several mounted police, which was a bit heavy for around 200 protesters. The police were a bit pushy at times but, overall, it was peaceful.’
People chanted and booed, and said ‘Shame on you’ as delegates entered the fair at the Scottish Events Campus in Finnieston.
‘Sink the Glasgow Arms Fair’, a coalition of Scottish organisations that led the opposition to the UDT, said: ‘The council’s move towards banning arms fairs shows that people power works.’ The organisations included Campaign Against Arms Trade, Trident Ploughshares, Food Not Bombs, Scotland Against Militarism and Catholic Workers.
The Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB) earlier expressed surprise and disappointment in a draft statement that the event took place in Scotland – given the Scottish government’s opposition to nuclear weapons. The NFPB called for the ‘redirection of the skills of those employed in the arms industry in Scotland, so that these skills can be used for societal and global benefit rather than for the production of costly and destructive weaponry.’
The city’s SNP administration originally distanced itself from the event saying it was signed off before last May’s elections.
