Last month the arms industry held a £246/head dinner. Over 40 MPs from across the three main political parties attended to 'network' with hundreds of arms company representatives. CAAT interrupted the dinner to highlight the scandal of spending billions on war while the basic needs of millions of people in this country are not being met. Can you help make sure all MPs get this message?
The arms industry has embarked on a huge campaign to urge political parties to commit to more military spending in the next parliament – even though UK military spending is already the sixth highest in the world.
Please tell your MP that more public money for arms companies won't make our lives more secure. Instead we need to fund human needs and tackle the causes of global insecurity.
Ahead of the election, the arms industry trade body, ADS, is lobbying and campaigning for a higher military budget, more international arms sales and extra government funding for research and development (R & D) for the arms trade.
>Some MPs are supporting these calls: 32 have signed a parliamentary petition calling for a military budget of at least 2% of GDP.
Spending vast amounts of money on military procurement and pushing arms sales doesn't enhance security; it fuels conflict, supports repression and makes the world a more dangerous place.
Military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya has resulted in greater instability and an upsurge in violence.
The UK has already been arming both sides in the Russia/Ukraine conflict. A further build-up of weapons and more military posturing will only undermine attempts to negotiate a political resolution and runs the risk of escalating the crisis.
Pouring resources into military responses doesn't just create more conflict. It also diverts resources from tackling the underlying causes of insecurity such as climate change.
The government spends 25 times more on research and development into weapons than renewables. Shifting priorities would create a safer world – and more jobs than the entire arms industry!
After the election the new government will be producing a National Security Strategy to decide its approach for the next five years. Its current approach focuses on maintaining Britain's 'place in the world' through military force and the projection of power.
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Please write to your MP asking them to support a wider view of security, which reflects human needs and address the causes of insecurity rather than creating further conflict.
Sarah Waldron
Campaign Against Arms Trade