Peace pilgrimage says no to Telford arms fair

Friends took part in a five-day Peace Pilgrimage to the Telford International Centre was to witness against the annual Special Defence & Security Conference

Central England Quakers joined scores of interfaith peace campaigners this month as they walked from Malvern to Telford.

The five-day Peace Pilgrimage to the Telford International Centre was to witness against the annual Special Defence & Security Conference (SDSC-UK), which will take place in November. The conference was previously held in Malvern but, after five years of campaigning against the fair, was forced to find a new home in Telford. 

The walk was the brainchild of eighty-one-year-old Quaker Ralph Wallin, who was inspired by the Malvern residents who successfully campaigned against the conference.

Ralph Wallin, from Bournville Meeting, said: ‘We think of ourselves as a peaceful nation, but most people do not know how many parts of weapons and surveillance systems are made and exported by the UK. This results in destruction of people and communities, and also produces massive levels of carbon emissions that don’t get counted. The arms trade is terrible and we need to educate ourselves on it – it’s a major disgrace right now. I walked to the Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) in London last year and felt the power of a pilgrimage.’

The pilgrims walked with a giant puppet of the Dove of Peace, visiting Roxel UK near Kidderminster, an aerospace company specialising in solid propulsion systems for missiles such as Brimstone, used in countries including Yemen. On the last day they took puppets of six people arrested for peaceful civil resistance at SDSC-UK’s Telford fair last year, now barred from being near Telford International Centre.

The arms fair will take place from 18 to 20 November.

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