Arms Fair In Birmingham - 28th March 2019

Click here to sign petition opposing this event.

The Birmingham NEC and the adjacent concert venue hold a valued place in the cultural and emotional makeup of our area. Events at the NEC such as the Caravan show, the Grass Roots, Football show, the Baby show and concerts by Beyonce, Queen and Jay-Z have created many good memories in the hearts and minds of many.

UK weapons and auxiliary military equipment is being sold to some of the worlds most violent and repressive regimes and contributes to wars, oppression, conflicts and occupations which bring suffering to millions of civilian casualties and victims across the world.

The UK Government's 2017 Human Rights and Democracy Report identified 30 Human Rights Priority Countries, where human rights are a concern. In 2017, the UK approved arms export licences to 18 of these including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.

It is a disgrace that such an event should hosted in the West Midlands area, where peaceful co-existence in all our cultural diversity is of such great importance.

Many West Midlands residents have family, friends and community in countries devastated by wars and repression where UK- made weapons and equipment have been used.

We have seen an increasing number of refugees dying in the Miditerranean and/or stuck outside our borders trying to seek saftey, forced flee their homes due to wars and poverty.

Taxpayers pay well over £3/4 of billion a year in subsidies for arms companies. This money would be far better spent on (for example) schools, the NHS, or housing the homeless.

We demand an industrial strategy in the UK that stops making weaponry and equipment for war and killing and instead invests in safe technologies and jobs that genuinely benefit society and the environment.
We call on the NEC to cancel the DPTRE event.