Campaign Against The Arms Trade talk

With the controversy about UK arms being sold to Saudi Arabia rumbling on there will be a timely meeting in Hastings by a speaker from Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). John Enefer writes.  

CAAT has contested the legality of the sales at a time when Saudi Arabia is leading a bombing campaign in Yemen which has caused large scale civilian deaths worsened by a cholera epidemic in the Arab state. The latest round in the legal battle between CAAT and the Government saw the arms campaigners win the right to appeal an earlier decision allowing for the continued export of arms.

The children’s charity UNICEF UK has said that, due to the conflict in Yemen, 11.3 million children are ‘in danger’.

Wendy Horler (CAAT)

The CAAT speaker at the meeting will be Wendy Horler, who’ll bring a local flavour to her talk by making reference to General Dynamics, a company with a presence in Hastings. “Modern weapons systems are not just things that fly to places and drop things that go bang. They have communications systems, avionics, guidance and navigation systems, without which they would not work! General Dynamics in Hastings makes avionics systems that, amongst other deadly machines, go into the Typhoon jets that Saudi Arabia operates in the bombing in Yemen.”

The meeting will take place at the Quaker Meeting House, South Terrace, Hastings, on Tuesday 5 June 2018 beginning at 7pm. The venue is wheelchair accessible and everyone is welcome. The meeting has been organised by Hastings Against War, a local campaign group which meets at the Quaker Meeting House on the first Tuesday of each month.

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