Close down the Whitehall gunrunners

Since it was founded in 1974, CAAT has been arguing for DESO to be closed. That call has been given new impetus by our Call the Shots campaign, which aims to take the arms companies out of government. If you want to see the money currently spent on DESO spent productively and ethically elsewhere, you can help our campaign by writing to your new MP and finding out what they think of DESO.

You might want to ask them how they justify:

• The UK government employing 600 civil servants solely for the purpose of marketing and selling weapons.
• The cost of DESO to the taxpayer; usually around £16 million per year.
• The fact that in proportion to their share of UK exports, DESO receives over 10 times the budget of the DTI department which promotes civil exports.
• Recent 'priority markets' for DESO having included countries with poor human rights records and countries engaged in violent conflict, such as India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
• The fact that the head of DESO is always an arms industry executive.

You can always reach your MP by writing to them at House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. If you are unsure who your MP is, you can use the House of Commons constituency locator to find out.

Please send us a copy of your MP's response, as it will help us as we launch our campaign against DESO in earnest. If you have any suggestions for other ways in which we can undermine government support for arms exports, or want to help with the campaign, please email us at enquiries@caat.org.uk or phone us on the number below.

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