Gabrielle Tierney presented her film about the campaign which succeeded in getting arms company Raytheon to leave Derry.

See the trailer or contact CAAT to order a copy of the DVD.

The "Ban BAE: Kick arms companies off campus" workshop and Universities Against Arms Trade open session discussion brought together lots of exciting info-sharing and planning. Download the PDF (122k) of the full report from these discussions.

In this session, hosted by London CAAT, groups shared news of what they've been up to and ideas for tackling some of the challenges groups face. Download a PDF (46k) of the notes from these discussions.

This session explored where to find existing published information, as well as how to lobby for further transparency. Download the a PDF of the useful notes(465k) from this session and take a look at the flipchart notes(87k) .

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) had cropped up throughout the day and a number of attendees thought it appropriate to discuss specific examples. The host introduced various perspectives on autonomous and remotely-controlled UAVs, before describing the UK's ongoing plans to build 54 UAVs in Leicester as part of the Watchkeeper programme. A lively discussion followed about the use of UAVs in surveillance and conflict, the proliferation of UAVs globally and the relationship between Israel's Elbit Systems and British companies working on the Watchkeeper programme. A number of participants had been planning anti-UAV campaigns in their own communities and were pleased to see such wide interest. The session was well attended (15-20 people) and many productive questions were aired.

The Labour Party and the arms trade open session was attended by members of the Labour Party, other parties and none. There was a wide-ranging discussion about the Party's previous policies, the new people with arms trade-related briefs and changes to conference allowing for "topical motions". This latter was not, however, seen as a return to the old days when constituency parties could propose motions on any topic. Various ways to broach arms trade issues with the party were suggested, though there was no agreement about them, but the importance of CAAT supporters who are Labour Party members working within their local parties was stressed, as was the vital role of trade unions in the new Ed Miliband era.

David began by explaining how Edinburgh CAAT group had started working in schools. They had approached the head of a Quaker school and had persuaded them to let them do workshops. They are now working in several schools and have developed their workshop to be more interactive following feedback from teachers and the pupils.

They advertised for a development worker for the group who agreed to do it for free which has really helped.

The discussion then moved to the whole group. Download a PDF (43k) of the full report from this discussion.

Robin Brookes, an Executive Committee member of conscience (taxes for peace not war), briefly took the group through the proportions of how our taxes are currently spent, which includes about 10% on defence and only 1.5% on International Development and 1% on Environment. He explained that conscience campaigns for a change in the law so people with a conscientious objection to war can divert the part of their taxes usually spent on war and war preparations to peacebuilding and conflict prevention activities instead. Military security is expensive, ineffective and costs lives.

The group then split in two and brainstormed two questions:

• What drives us to challenge the assumption that paying for war and the arms trade is acceptable?
• How can we respond to the Government's assumption that is is OK to take and use our money for this purpose?

More information can be found on the conscience website.

We discussed the current state of anti arms trade networks with reference to the past CAAT direct action network, the infiltration of CAAT by BAE, the growth of local anti arms trade campaigns like Smash EDO, Target Brimar and Shut Down H&K and the birth of the Anti-Militarist Network (AMN).

There was a general discussion about recent actions and a need was expressed for an AMN gathering - we proposed having one just before DSEi and one in the meantime.

CAAT has significant skills and resources that would help AMN if they were taken advantage of, namely;

• Research resources
• Trainers for skills like media, legal, lobbying etc.
• Lobbying power and parliamentary contacts
• Media contacts and reputation

There was also a suggestion to put a prisoner solidarity page on the website, listing people who are serving time for anti-militarist actions.

In 2011 there will be the 10-yearly compulsory national census that records a wide range of information on every person in every household in the United Kingdom. I wonder how many readers know that the contract to gather the data for this census has been won by the Lockheed Martin Corporation of Maryland, USA, who also helped with the 2001 census. Lockheed Martin are the world's second largest weapons manufacturer, they make trident nuclear missiles, and they own a one third share of Britain's Aldermaston Nuclear weapons factory (AWE) where they are helping to develop the next generation of Britain's nuclear deterrence.

Neither the British nor US governments will make clear whether information gathered by the census falls under the American Patriot Act if gathered in part by a US-owned company, i.e. even though it is clear that US companies are legally obliged to pass on to their government any data held by them. Additionally, all information outsourced to the USA may be made widely available in that country, not only for law enforcement purposes, but also to private entities. So we have no legal precedence as to whether, under the pretext of national security, this census information can be acquired by the US government. The UK Office of National Statistics claims that our data will be safe but the UK government has demonstrated on several occasions that it cannot be trusted with managing digital data containing personal records.

Download a PDF (38k) of the full report from this discussion.

Members of Steering Committee hosted this discussion which gave an overview of how CAAT works and what Steering Committee does, along with some examples of typical things non-staff members of SC do. The session aimed to encourage more supporters to stand in the elections coming up in the new year and also spent some time discussing wider arms trade issues.

CAAT's Steering Committee takes the final decisions on campaigns and policy and makes sure that the organisation's internal workings are legal and efficient. Currently the Steering Committee is partly elected, but it also includes representatives from organisations that were historically connected to CAAT. After a lot of debate, this structure is changing. In future, the committee will have 10 members elected on a three year rotating basis, and four co-opted members to fill skills gaps.

We are now seeking supporters to stand for election to Steering Committee.

Nick Ballantine-Drake, current member of Steering Committee:

"Steering Committee really lets you into the heart of CAAT - you can get involved in a huge number of ways if you choose and you really feel that you are helping out. CAAT benefits from having Steering Committee members with diverse skills, interests and experiences. Whatever your interests, you'll receive a warm welcome as part of Steering Committee - I know I did!"

Who can vote and stand for election?
You can vote in the Steering Committee election if you've given at least £12 to CAAT since 1 January 2009. You can stand for election if you qualify as a voter and, additionally, have been a CAAT supporter for at least 12 months. You must be proposed and seconded by supporters who are themselves eligible to stand for election.