Dear friends,
We're pleased to have some encouraging news to share in these difficult times, as well as a date for the diary with the UK's largest arms company.
Ethical Investment win in the Supreme Court
Congratulations to our friends at Palestine Solidarity Campaign for their Supreme Court victory this week! The successful action means council pension funds can continue to divest from firms operating in Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, and also from the arms trade.
CAAT made submissions in support of this important case and we are thrilled about its success, which protects fundamental rights and freedoms.
Your voice was heard on arms trade corruption
Allegations about corruption in a £2 billion deal to supply equipment to the Saudi Arabian National Guard first surfaced in 2011, and in 2018 we heard that the Serious Fraud Office had finally requested permission to prosecute. But the Attorney General’s office, whose permission is needed, has been sitting on it ever since.
In February, when a new Attorney General was appointed, we asked for your help to put the pressure on – and thousands of you responded.
This week, a Parliamentary Question was asked about the progress of the case, and the Attorney General told Parliament: "that case was one of the first matters, if not the first, to cross my desk, so it is a priority for me and I will not rest until we find an appropriate resolution."
In fact, we know that, thanks to you, this case has now ‘crossed her desk’ more than 3,500 times!
We’ll need to keep pushing for there to be more progress but for now it’s important that the government knows the issue won’t go away quietly. Thank you!
Protest against BAE online 11am Thursday
Every year, CAAT supporters attend the Annual General Meeting of BAE Systems, the UK’s biggest arms company, to hold the company’s leadership to account. This year, the meeting (understandably) cannot take place as normal but, unlike many other AGMs in the same situation, BAE is hiding from any scrutiny and won’t hold proceedings online either.
The company will be glad to avoid awkward questions about its £15 billion in revenue from Saudi Arabia since 2015. Yet, as Yemen faces its first coronavirus deaths, with a health system already devastated by five years of war, these questions are as urgent as ever.
So we’ll be holding our own 'meeting' online to expose its dodgy deals. Follow from 11am on Thursday 7 May, on CAAT’s blog, Facebook, and Twitter.
In other news
We’ve been speaking out against ‘Sportwashing’ as the Saudi ruling family leads a deal to try to buy Newcastle football club.
And, as global military expenditure reaches highs not seen since the Second World War, we’re calling for a shift in priorities. Just one of the 138 F-35 warplanes the UK government is buying could pay for 3,000 ventilators.
Thanks as always, for your continued support for CAAT,
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Sarah
Campaign Against Arms Trade