“No embarrassment” in promoting arms says Minister
A Government Minister has declared that senior members of the Government will promote arms exports to compensate for budget cuts at the Ministry of Defence. Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) says that this brazen support for the arms trade by the new Coalition Government will result in even more suffering as a result of military sales and arms companies gaining ever greater influence over government.
Peter Luff, Defence Equipment Minister, is reported to have said: “There will be a very, very, very heavy ministerial commitment to the process. There is a sense that in the past we were rather embarrassed about exporting defence products. There is no such embarrassment in this Government.”
CAAT says that the statement is unusual in its frankness but, in reality, there is little difference from the policies pursued by the Labour Government. Government support for the arms industry already runs into billions of pounds per annum, including Research & Development spending, generous procurement arrangements and government-backed insurance. Arms exports receive disproportionate support from the special sales unit in UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO).
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