Tag: CAAT

CAAT News


Summer edition of Campaign Against the Arms Trade news highlights many troubling issues around the this trade

June 2024

UPDATE: 20 June 2024. This post mentions the ‘revolving door’ where senior military personnel, civil servants and politicians go off to lucrative posts in the companies they were supposed to be controlling before retiring. Private Eye has done extensive work on this (see link below) and in the current edition No: 1624, there is an article about the Israeli arms firm Elbit who have recently taken on Sir Mark Poffley, formerly of the MoD. He had senior positions in logistics and hence would have had a lot to do with contracts. MoD have awarded Elbit with contracts worth £57m.

There is supposed to be a 2 year gap between leaving and taking up a role and lobbying previous colleagues. Private Eye questions whether this two years has indeed elapsed since although he is supposed to have left in 2018, documents show he remained as master general of logistics in 2022. ACOBA (see below) say these posts are ‘honorary’ and so do not infringe the two year rule.

Elbit, make the drones which are a feature of the Gaza campaign. Elbit say the drones used over Gaza are not made in Bristol.

The arms trade has a severe impact on human rights in countries around the world. We have already highlighted the fact that the UK government is continuing to issue licences to the Israeli government despite the horrific death toll in Gaza.

A troubling development is the increase in the number of universities engaged in research programmes funded by, or in partnership with, arms companies. CAAT, in conjunction with Demilitarise Education has published a new report Weaponising Universities. The report describes the nature of the research projects and makes a number of recommendations for universities, faculties and students (p56ff). Protests by students have taken place at Bristol, Nottingham, Sheffield, Liverpool. Newcastle and Glasgow as awareness grows of what is happening.

Campaigners blocked access to the Bristol Arms Fair for a time. Among the exhibitors was Elbit, an Israeli arms company, which supplies weapons used in the Gaza conflict. The protest aimed to show that such firms were not welcome in the City.

There are two issues important in the arms industry: one is the lax control on what and to whom weapons are sold and two, the immense support offered by the UK government to the arms companies. The government claims it has robust controls in place yet weapons are sold to Turkey, Israel, Saudi, Qatar and other nations where abuses are taking place. There is a whole government department in place CAAT reports, called the UK Defence & Security Exports which uses public money to support the sale of arms around the world. The department’s title has a certain Orwellian feel to it with the use of ‘defence’ and ‘security’ to describe itself. Who could be opposed to defence or security? Unfortunately, what is sold is far from either of these things and are used to kill, or oppress.

Companies have almost limitless access to ministers and civil servants via extensive lobbying and countless meetings. Then there is the ‘revolving door’ which has been reported on in depth by Private Eye. This is the scandalous and cosy relationship between government and business, including the arms firms, whereby retiring military people, senior civil servants and ministers are offered lucrative positions or consultancies once they retire. It is an invitation for corruption. The Aerospace, Defence & Security Group (note those words again) hold lavish dinners for politicians and industry figureheads. Altogether, a multi-layered system of contacts enabling arms firms to exert considerable influence over politicians and civil servants. If any progress is ever to be made to put a stop to this deeply entrenched system of influence then at the very least, contacts should be reported on and there should be a considerably greater level of transparency. ACOBA, the toothless department which notionally controls the revolving door has to be radically strengthened. Essentially, instead of policing this system, the UK government is a willing participant and appears to have lost all objectivity. And remember, these are companies which sell weapons which kill.

CAAT News has much more on countries such as Saudi, Australia, Russia, China and more. There is also a piece on the Twickenham Arms Fair and is also a report on Barclays who are heavily involved in financing Elbit and BAE Systems with over £4bn in loans and financial services.

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Arms trade news


Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s latest newsletter is disturbing

November 2023

When we see the latest conflict on our screens, we almost do not notice the weaponry being used to cause the death and destruction. Ukraine has for the moment been displaced by the problems in Palestine and Gaza and the advance of the IDF into that territory. Yemen has taken a back seat in recent months and it is true there is currently a truce in place. A key supplier of arms is the UK and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) newsletter, Autumn 2023, sets out some of the data and statistics concerning our role in these conflicts. We highlight two current issues.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, we are a major supplier of weaponry and BAE has 6,300 employees based there. Saudi bombing of civilian targets has caused untold misery among the population of the poorest country in the world. The Saudi prince, Mohammed bin Salman is due to come to the UK to meet the Prime Minister which has caused the relationship between ourselves and the kingdom to be put under the spotlight and has caused outrage among a number of campaigning groups. The UK claims it puts human rights at the centre of its discussions but there is no evidence of this.

Another conflict is in Gaza following the horrific attack on Israeli settlements on 7 October 2023. The UK has ‘consistently sold arms to Israel’ CAAT reports despite the illegal and growing number of settlements on the West Bank. Between 2018 and 2022, we exported £146m in arms via Single Issue Export Licences. However, they report there are a large number of Open General Export Licences which include components for the F35 stealth combat aircraft. This would imply a value of $72m in 2022. As the conflict has progressed and the misery inflicted on the people of Gaza increases, the morality of our continued sale of arms to Israel is called into question.

When we see these conflicts unfold around the world, we should always be aware that, as one of the world’s largest exporters of military equipment, a proportion of the weapons being used were provided by the UK. As bad as that is, it could be mitigated a little if the UK exerted tight control over the issue of licences and how, and upon whom, the weapons are used. Do not forget that it is always women and children who suffer the most in these conflicts not just from immediate injuries from shells or shrapnel, but long term trauma from having witnessed scenes we would not wish on anyone. Modern weapons are capable of considerable destruction that will take many years to rectify when the conflict is over. The evidence seems to be that the desire by our government for exports and the need to create employment, trumps considerations of humanity or human rights.

CAAT has been campaigning against the Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair which takes place each year at the Excel Centre. It is supported by the government with several ministers speaking and civil servants on hand to meet and greet. “Put simply” CAAT comments “DSEI is where war begins”. The countries attending include a roll call of oppressive regimes keen to secure the latest technology. Our support for this fair and the help offered to arms companies to secure deals with oppressive regimes, means we are complicit in the denial of rights and the continuation of conflicts around the world.

Source: CAAT News, Issue 267 Autumn 2023

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Burma


Problems in Burma get overlooked because of events elsewhere in the world

August 2023

Burma crops up from time time in the news and this week (w/c 31 July) the partial release of Aung San Suu Kyi into house arrest briefly made it into news bulletins. These notes are taken mainly from Issue 44 of Burma Campaign News published by the Burma Campaign. The country remains subject to some of the worst treatment of people in the world with multiple examples of human rights infringements. Following a massive defeat of the military in elections in 2020, after half a century of control, they staged a coup the day after the newly elected government was due to take office and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi.

The effects of military control have been atrocious. Nearly 2 million have had to flee their homes. There are around 2000 political prisoners. The treatment of the Rohingya amounts to genocide. The military have been able to retain control because they can still acquire arms mostly from the Russian Federation but also from China, Singapore with smaller amounts from India and Thailand. The total amounts to around $1bn according to a UN report.

The Burma campaign has identified a ‘Dirty List’ of suppliers and have recently added 5 insurers who provide vital insurance cover without which the junta would not be able to acquire aviation fuel. They name the companies as UK P&I; Steamship Mutual; Britannia P&I and North Standard and Shipowners Club. The role of these companies was exposed by Amnesty in a report ‘Deadly Cargo‘. The UK government has so far failed to impose sanctions preventing British companies supplying aviation fuel.

While the situation in Burma is dire, the supply of arms and materiel from western countries is thought to have largely stopped according to the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. A major jewellery company has stopped sourcing rubies from the country. There have been two debates in the House of Commons and one in the House of Lords.

Little can be done to alter the situation especially while China, Russia and Singapore – the major conduit for arms – continue to supply the junta and enable them to stay in power. Singapore claims it has a policy to prohibit the transfer of arms to Myanmar, however, the UN report uncovered $253m of supplies shipped to the military between February 2021 and December 2023.

Cyclone Mocha hit the country in May and the military blocked aid to the Rohingya who were particularly badly hit as part of its genocidal policies towards them. An unknown number of people have died and many have lost homes, livestock and fields have been destroyed.

Attention on the country has often focused on Aung San Suu Kyi who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and was admired in the West for her heroic stand against the generals. Her reputation suffered a precipitate slide during the Rohingya crisis where she seemed unwilling to condemn the military actions and even seemed to support them at the Hague. She was perhaps endowed with qualities which were unreal and her failure to condemn the brutality against a minority population was a truer indication of who she was. The decline in her heroic status is possibly a reason why attention has shifted away from the country and the continuing activities of the military.

An infographic can be accessed here.

Sources: UN, Burma Campaign, HRW, CAAT, Amnesty International, BBC

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Arms firms’ staff employed in the Ministry of Defence


Report reveals the extent of arms firms’ staff employed in the MoD

28 September 2022

A report by Open Democracy reveals the extent of penetration of the Ministry of Defence by individuals employed by the arms companies. This raises immediate issues of conflict of interest, national security and the awarding of millions of pounds of contracts to those same firms as well as the question of licences allowing arms sales to proceed. Open Democracy report that the government would not say whether such secondments represented a conflict of interest.

There has been a long running campaign by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade CAAT, to hold the government to account for sales of weapons to Saudi Arabia. These weapons have been used in the war in Yemen causing untold misery and destruction and the deaths of at least 8,983 people. CAAT had some success and there was a brief moratorium. The government resumed offering licences claiming that violations of international human rights were ‘isolated incidents’. CAAT reports that an appeal is to be heard on 31 January 2023.

Firms include BAE, Leonardo and Qinetiq which has a large presence near Salisbury. The numbers are not small and around 50 individuals are involved. It has been confirmed that they were largely concentrated in the UK Defence and Export directorate which is involved in helping firms sell arms overseas. CAAT points out that it shows that the secondments are deeply embedded in the ministry. The government should be keeping a close eye on what arms are exported to which regime with proper attention to the human rights of the people involved in conflicts. This does not seem to have happened in the case of Yemen and free reign has been offered to companies to sell weapons to Saudi which have been used to bomb schools, hospitals, weddings and other targets. RAF personnel were also revealed to be involved in the activity.

An additional factor is what is called the ‘revolving door’. Senior civil servants, some ex-ministers and senior forces personnel – such as Generals and Admirals – leave or retire from their jobs and take lucrative positions in arms companies with only cursory checks. ACOBA is the government body charged with overseeing this is but has been widely criticised as ‘toothless’. A Private Eye report describes in detail the extent of the corruption. CAAT comments that staff leaving the forces or the MoD take with them extensive contacts and a deep knowledge of how the ministry works. Existing staff are reluctant to upset the arms companies for fear of jeopardising a lucrative consultancy or board appointment when it is their turn to retire. Transparency International have also reported on this problem in a report.

The sale of arms is a profoundly sensitive issue. What arms are sold to which regime is a matter of considerable importance. Films of conflicts around the world always show the various groups armed to the teeth with a wide range of weapons sold to them by overseas firms including those from the UK. These weapons cause untold misery, death or maiming of thousands of people and children. We surely have the right and expectation that the MoD is adopting the highest of standards in deciding on these matters and that decisions are taken with the greatest of integrity.

Yet what we find is that ministers are pusillanimous over the issuing of licences, that large numbers of staff from arms companies are involved in the decisions being made and that senior staff and military people are working in the expectation of being employed by the very companies they are supposed to be in control of.

The result of their actions is the death and suffering of people subject to bombing, drone attacks, cluster munitions, shelling and other outrages courtesy of UK arms firms aided and abetted by a deeply compromised Ministry of Defence. Is the Ministry working on our behalf, or to serve the interests of the arms firms?

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Made in UK: bombed in Yemen


CAAT Webinar focusing on the role of UK arms firms in causing misery and death in Yemen

The purpose of the webinar was to focus on the role of UK arms suppliers in the continuing war in Yemen.  It featured a speaker from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade CAAT; one from Forensic Architecture and thirdly, Emily Thornberry MP.

The UK is not the only, or even the largest, supplier of weapons to the theatre, that role was taken by USA.  We must also not forget the role of the Iranian government who are supporting the Houthi rebels in the conflict.  Half of the Saudi air force is supplied by the UK and that includes spares and maintenance as well to keep them airworthy. US sales have been temporarily suspended by President Biden.

The Saudi government could not continue without UK support they suggested, not just in supplying weapons but diplomatic support as well in the UN.  We reported in 2015 the amazing news that Saudi had a seat on the UN’s Human Right’s Council.  It seems beyond belief that a country which executes people by decapitation with a sword, often in public, denies basic rights to women and uses torture as a matter of course, should have such a seat let alone be supported by the UK government.

The webinar put the role of arms suppliers in the spotlight who refuse to take responsibility for the mayhem their weapons cause.  Thousands have died and schools, hospitals, weddings and funerals have all been the subject of Saudi air raids.  RAF personnel are in Saudi to advise the Saudis yet many of these raids are in breach of International human rights.  There have been 55 airstrikes on health facilities alone. 

Hope for the future

The constant tide of grim stories which emerge from Yemen and the failure of our courts to hold the government to account, might make one despair at change ever being achieved.  The UK depends on the arms industry – and the network of City banks and agents who facilitate the movement of money – for a significant chunk of its exports.  They have been able to continue with this gruesome business because getting news and footage from the country is extremely difficult.  If the carnage was a regular feature of the news on TV things might have changed.  As it is, it can carry on largely unseen.

This might change with the arrival of an organisation called Forensic Architecture.  They are able to use forensic techniques to form linkages between airstrikes and the companies supplying the weapons.  They can show the impact of arms exports and the continuing targeting of civilians.  They can link therefore the sale of a jet to the bombing of a hospital.  Up to now, the companies, supported by the UK government, have been able to claim these violations are isolated incidents following the Court of Appeal decision to ban such sales.  Liz Truss claimed a review had been undertaken enabling sales to continue. Evidence gained by these methods will show complicity and make it harder to argue against complicity in what are war crimes.  This might be a game changer.

Forensic evidence might be a game changer

Emily Thornberry MP

Emily Thornberry is the shadow Secretary of International Trade opposite the minister, Liz Truss MP.  She said there have been 5 years of deceit practised on the British people.  The so called ‘isolated incidents’ based on the curious logic that as they were at different times and in different places therefore they are isolated.  British staff in Saudi ‘were in a different room’ therefore not complicit the minister claimed.  She pointed to the changing statements about the use of cluster munitions.  Her main point was that the UK has come to rely on these sales and it has distorted our policy in the region.  The government is caught in a web of complicity from which it cannot easily escape.  They will never change their position unless forced to do so by the Courts (which on previous experience is unlikely) or public opinion. 

Companies, civil servants and ministers are subject to the International Criminal Court for war crimes.  Will a case against those who were complicit in these crimes or who turned a blind eye, find themselves in front of the ICC?

A CAAT report on the arms trade was published today (14th July)

See also Mwatana and the Yemen Data Project and Human Rights Watch

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CAAT award


Campaign Against the Arms Trade nominated for the Nobel peace Prize

We are delighted to report this news today (19 February 2021).  We have often featured CAAT in our posts especially concerning the UK arms industry’s supply of weapons to Saudi Arabia.  These weapons have been used to cause immense harm and destruction in Yemen.  The Saudi air force has bombed markets, schools, hospitals, clinics and wedding ceremonies killing many thousands of people and wounding many more.  UK personnel are ‘advising’ the Saudis, ostensibly to help them observe international human rights standards.  They carefully stop short of actually attaching the weapons as this would make them mercenaries.

The UK government was stopped from granting licenses but they have resumed.

The link shows how this award will help CAAT in their work.

 

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Arms sales to Saudi – latest


Campaign Against the Arms Trade launches legal challenge

CAAT has launched a legal challenge after the UK government decided to resume arms sales to the Saudis for use in their bombing campaign in Yemen.  We discussed the flimsy grounds and shaky reasoning for this decision in a previous post.  The CAAT post can be accessed here.

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Resumption of arms sales to Saudi Arabia


Minister announces resumption of arms sales to Saudi Arabia used to cause so much misery in Yemen

It is sometimes difficult to keep up with government announcements.  On Monday 6 July, the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced that a number of individuals would be subject to sanctions and banned entry to the UK.  Their assets would be frozen as well.  The UK is one of the major centres for money laundering and the City is the centre of a web of tax havens around the world.  City institutions are specialists in moving huge sums into secrecy jurisdictions thus enabling a range of criminal activities to go undetected.  Dominic Raab’s announcement was a welcome first step in clamping down on some of this activity therefore and has cross-party support.  In his statement he said:

He outlined human rights violations as those that contradict the right to life, the right not to be subject from torture and the right to be free from slavery, but said they were exploring adding other human rights and looking into including those guilty of corruption.

The Foreign Secretary outlined the individuals who will be sanctioned first.  These include those involved in the torture and murder of Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky (who the Minister concluded his statement by paying tribute to), and Saudi Arabian journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, as well as those responsible for the genocide of the Rohingya population in Myanmar and for North Korea’s gulags.  Statement in the House of Commons Website (extract)

All those countries named have been subject of Amnesty and other human rights organisation’s campaigns.

THEN on the following day, we have an announcement by the Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss, (pictured) resuming arms sales to Saudi Arabia.  The contrast is astonishing as one of the countries included in the Foreign Secretary’s announcement was – Saudi Arabia for the murder of Khashoggi.  The announcement followed a legal case last year mounted by a number of human rights organisations, who claimed that the weapons – especially jets – were being used by the Saudis to bomb civilian targets in the war in Yemen.  The destruction there has been horrific with thousands of deaths.  Hospitals, schools, clinics and wedding ceremonies have all been attacked.  Saudi Arabia’s human rights record is dire with torture common, religious persecution rife and the dreadful treatment of women.

The Court of Appeal found against the government because it did not show, in the Court’s judgment, the question of whether there was an historic pattern of breaches of International Humanitarian Law was a question which required to be faced.  Even if it could not be answered with reasonable confidence for every incident, at least the attempt had to be made.  It was because the government had not reached findings on whether specific incidents constituted breaches of IHL as part of an assessment of clear risk, under Criterion 2c that the Court of Appeal concluded that their decision-making process was irrational and therefore unlawful.

Liz Truss’s argument is that they have sought to determine whether these “violations” are indicative of:

(i) any patterns of non-compliance;
(ii) a lack of commitment on the part of Saudi Arabia to comply with IHL; and/or
(iii) a lack of capacity or systemic weaknesses which might give rise to a clear risk of IHL breaches.

We have similarly looked for patterns and trends across the incidents which have been assessed as being unlikely to be breaches of IHL and those for which there is insufficient information to make an assessment.

This analysis has not revealed any such patterns, trends or systemic weaknesses. It is noted, in particular, that the incidents which have been assessed to be possible violations of IHL occurred at different times, in different circumstances and for different reasons. The conclusion is that these are isolated incidents

The decision to resume supplies has been roundly criticised.  Kate Allen of Amnesty said:

This is a deeply cynical move to restart business as usual when it comes to Saudi arms sales.  How the Government can seriously describe a five-year Saudi-led aerial assault on Yemen which has seen numerous examples of civilians killed in schools, hospitals, funeral halls and market places as a set of ‘isolated incidents’ is almost beyond comprehension.  This seems like an attempt to rewrite history and disregard international law.  The UK is bypassing its obligations under the international arms control framework. Its approach to this decision has effectively rendered our own protections meaningless.

Deeply cynical move – AIUK

 

Andrew Smith of the Campaign Against the Arms Trade in a statement said:

This is a disgraceful and morally bankrupt decision. The Saudi-led bombardment of Yemen has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and the government itself admits that UK-made arms have played a central role on the bombing.  We will be considering this new decision with our lawyers, and will be exploring all options available to challenge it.

The evidence shows a clear pattern of heinous and appalling breaches of International humanitarian law by a coalition which has repeatedly targeted civilian gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and market places.  The government claims that these are isolated incidents, but how many hundreds of isolated incidents would it take for the Government to stop supplying the weaponry?

This exposes the rank hypocrisy at the heart of UK foreign policy.  Only yesterday the government was talking about the need to sanction human rights abusers, but now it has shown that it will do everything it can to continue arming and supporting one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world.

Criterion 2c.  Criterion 2c of the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria – which requires the Government to assess Saudi Arabia’s attitude towards relevant principles of international law and provides that the Government will not grant a licence if there is a clear risk that the items might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

Picture credit: Pink News

We are not meeting at present but hope to resume activities in the Autumn.

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Arms sales to Saudi


UK government continues to sell arms to Saudi in violation of court ruling

June 2020

This post is almost entirely based on a post by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade CAAT, concerning the continuing sale of arms to the Saudi regime despite a court decision telling them to stop and the devastating effects these weapons are having on the people of Yemen.

It’s one year since CAAT won a landmark victory at the Court of Appeal challenging the UK’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.  As a result of that ruling, we have stopped the export of new weapons for use in the war in Yemen.  A multi-billion pound deal to sell more fighter jets to Saudi Arabia remains on hold.

This is significant progress, but there is more to do.  The government is fighting every step of the way to continue the arms sales.  It is appealing to the Supreme Court for a final decision, with the hearing scheduled for 23-25 November.  Meanwhile the government has still not complied with the Court of Appeal ruling that it should retake its previous decisions to allow weapons sales, and it is continuing to supply the war in Yemen.  It’s not just CAAT lawyers who are demanding answers; in today’s Observer (21 June 2020) all of the Opposition parties have united to call for urgent action.

We must end UK complicity in the war in Yemen.  Thousands of people have been killed by five years of bombing, many more by hunger and disease, and now Yemen is facing a dual threat of cholera and COVID-19 with a health system shattered by war.  One estimate is around 8,000 have died.  There seems no end in sight to the conflict.

Shamefully, UK-made fighter jets, bombs and missiles have played a central role in this destruction.  CAAT’s case challenges the sale of these weapons.  UK rules state that weapons should not be sold where there is a “clear risk” that they might be used in violations of international humanitarian law.  Yet the UK government has continued to support the supply of weapons to the Saudi-led coalition, even as it has bombed schools, hospitals and food supplies.  If the government won’t follow its own rules, we need to make it do so.

In last year’s ruling, the Court of Appeal found that that the government had failed to properly assess the risk of weapons exported from the UK being used in violations of international humanitarian law.  The government was ordered to retake all its previous decisions to export arms to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners, in a lawful way.  New arms sales were put on hold until this review is complete.  The government agreed to undertake the review as a matter of priority.  Yet, one year on, it has still not completed the review ordered by the Court.  All the time that review has not been completed, weapons sales can continue under pre-existing licences – and BAE Systems can still maintain the warplanes bombing Yemen.

So we must keep the pressure on. The government was ordered to retake its decisions, not just carry on with business as usual.

Sources: Amnesty International; Observer; Global Conflict Tracker, CAAT

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Weapons to the Saudis


Letter from Kate Allen, Director of Amnesty, to the Observer

We have featured on these pages the continuing scandal of arms sales to the Saudi regime.  Not only the destruction of large parts of Yemen these weapons are used for, but the fact that the Saudi regime’s repression of its own people and denial of human rights.  After China, they are the world’s second biggest executioner often following unfair trials and confessions extracted through torture.  But no matter, there’s money to be made.

Kate Allen discusses these factors in her letter to the Observer newspaper on Sunday 10 May 2020:

It is, as you say, long over overdue that the UK government put its relationship with Saudi Arabia on a healthier footing (Now is the time to distance ourselves from an odious regime, editorial 3 May, 2020).  For years, the UK has claimed behind-closed-doors diplomacy with Riyadh has been better than “lecturing” the kingdom over its appalling humans rights record.  Yet repression has only worsened including under the suppose reformer Mohammad bin Salmon.  Now virtually every human rights activist in the the country has either been locked up, intimidated in to silence or forced the flee the country.

We have sole Riyadh plenty of weaponry, but the UK hushed policy on Saudi human rights has sold the country’s embattled human rights community shamefully short.

The weapons are used in the war in Yemen the bombing of which has caused appalling damage to the nation’s infrastructure.

Attacks by the Saudi-led coalition have destroyed infrastructure across Yemen. Saudi forces have targeted hospitals, clinics and vaccinations centres.  Blockades have starved the population and made it hard for hospitals to get essential medical supplies.  Source; Campaign Against the Arms Trade

The UK is complicit: many of the Coalition’s attacks have been carried out with UK-made fighter jets, and UK-made bombs and missiles – and the UK government has supported them with billions of pounds of arms sales.

 

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