{"id":1725,"date":"2021-01-29T19:44:58","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T19:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/?page_id=1725"},"modified":"2021-03-27T18:44:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-27T18:44:01","slug":"uk-arms-trade","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/uk-arms-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Arms Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-d4fd7acb\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n<div class=\"gb-grid-wrapper gb-grid-wrapper-cb65a0e3\">\n<div class=\"gb-grid-column gb-grid-column-2ac6b732\"><div class=\"gb-container gb-container-2ac6b732\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UK arms trade would not be possible without the unwavering support of the UK Government.&nbsp;<strong>The government does not just oversee the arms trade; it is an active participant.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government is supposed to \u2018control\u2019 the export of military equipment from the UK, but there is a fundamental conflict between this role, and its focus on promoting the sale of weaponry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are lots of ways in which the government supports the arms trade<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The UK has<strong> an entire <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/government-support\/government-arms-promotion-unit\/\">arms sales unit<\/a> within government<\/strong>, dedicated to promoting weapons purchase to whoever will buy.<\/li><li>The UK government<strong> helps organise <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/arms-fairs\/\">arms fairs<\/a>,<\/strong> events which facilitate international arms deals<\/li><li>The UK government <strong>provides <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/government-support\/export-credits\/\">insurance<\/a><\/strong> for companies making arms deals, in case the buyer doesn\u2019t pay<\/li><li>The arms industry has <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/government-support\/political-influence\/\">special access<\/a> to government<\/strong>, and people often move between government positions and roles in arms companies.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every year the UK Government authorises the sale of arms to well <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/who-buys-uk-arms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">over 100 countries<\/a> across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Arms \u2018control\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government is responsible for \u2018controlling\u2019 the export of military equipment from the UK. Companies must apply to the government for permission to export military equipment and the government should assess applications against its export guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These rules say that sales should not be allowed when there is a clear risk that the items might be used for <q>internal repression<\/q>&nbsp;or in the&nbsp;<q>commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law<\/q>, or where they&nbsp;<q>would provoke or prolong armed conflicts.<\/q><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unfortunately, the government\u2019s focus is on securing further business, not controlling arms sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Government arms sales unit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Government\u2019s Department of International Trade\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/government-support\/government-arms-promotion-unit\/\">Defence &amp; Security Exports<\/a> organisation is a vital part of the UK\u2019s arms industry. It exists solely to help the arms and security industries sell their products around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It employs over 100 civil servants and military staff to work with arms companies to boost exports. Civil servants and government ministers work hand-in-hand with arms companies to maximise sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/rigorousrepetition.tumblr.com\/\">continues to insist<\/a>&nbsp;that the UK has&nbsp;<q>one of the most rigorous arms export control regimes<\/q>&nbsp;in the world. Yet&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/who-buys-uk-arms\/\">UK-made arms are supplied<\/a> to countries in conflict, often to both sides, and to countries engaged in internal repression. The government has licensed the sale of billions of pounds of weaponry to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, despite overwhelming evidence of <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/homepage\/stop-arming-saudi-arabia\/the-war-on-yemens-civilians\/\">repeated breaches<\/a> of international humanitarian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Arms Fairs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One way that the Government promotes the arms trade is by supporting <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/arms-fairs\/\">arms fairs<\/a>. These give arms dealers the chance to meet and greet military delegations, government officials, other arms companies and a host of individual visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unsurprisingly, the guest lists for arms fairs frequently include regimes who abuse human rights, and countries actively involved in armed conflicts. The biggest of these is the <a href=\"https:\/\/caat.org.uk\/challenges\/arms-fairs\/dsei\/\">Defence &amp; Security Export International<\/a>(DSEI) arms fair that happens every two years in London.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"gb-grid-column gb-grid-column-7ea49167\"><div class=\"gb-container gb-container-7ea49167\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n<div class=\"gb-grid-column gb-grid-column-4e0e6b8b\"><div class=\"gb-container gb-container-4e0e6b8b\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-bb2864fb gb-headline-text\">latest figures<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-button-wrapper gb-button-wrapper-161404d4\">\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-b187f0cb gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/statistics\/uk-defence-and-security-export-statistics-for-2019\/uk-defence-and-security-export-statistics-for-2019#defence-statistics\"><strong>UK Govt  DIT- Oct 2020<\/strong><\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-0f8ce056 gb-headline-text\">Headlines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-a0953073 gb-headline-text\">UK is the 2nd largest arms dealer globally<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-2c402967 gb-headline-text\">Over \u00a311bn in arms sold 2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-five-background-color has-five-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-4dd46294 gb-headline-text\">UK sold arms to 35 of the 48 regimes classed as &#8216;not free&#8217; in 2020  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-a8b1c6b0 gb-headline-text\">Key CONTACT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-content\/uploads\/CAAT.png?resize=225%2C225&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1772\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1794,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1725","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1725"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2356,"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1725\/revisions\/2356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demilitarize.org.uk\/staging\/1381\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}