Trading products which are designed to kill people is not what many people would define as a normal trade. It is an arms fair, which allows weapons manufacturers an opportunity to promote their products to regimes in conflict, to those with terrible human rights records, or with huge development needs. DSEi 2011 comprised more than 1,300 exhibiting companies, around 29,000 visitors, and military delegations from around the world.

One of the few ways the Government and the arms companies can rally public support for the arms trade is to claim that it keeps people in work and helps the UK economy. However, exporting arms is not the vital economic activity that it is portrayed as. For example, arms export jobs make up 0.2% of the UK workforce and arms exports comprise only 1.2% of total exports. See CAAT's jobs page for more information.

UK government support for the arms trade includes subsidies to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds, which means that, far from benefiting financially from the arms trade, the UK taxpayer is funding it. For more information: CAAT subsidies page

The arms fair itself is subsidised by the Government, primarily through the support provided by UKTI's Defence & Security Organisation and the hosting of military delegations.

DSEi is not a platform for UK companies but for the international arms industry. Eight of the world's ten largest arms producers will be there. Only one of those is headquartered in the UK and that one, BAE Systems, has more employees in the US than the UK.

Arms marketed at DSEi will be used in violent conflicts. Bizarrely, military delegations could be shopping for weapons alongside countries which they might be in conflict with. DSEi certainly creates business ties, but they are relationships that are dependent on tension and conflict.

The arms fair is co-organised by UKTI DSO and its goal is to sell arms overseas, not to look for the best military equipment for the UK armed forces. UKTI DSO's concern is business, and the market leads them to focus on countries including Iraq, Libya, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Political situations can change substantially but company profits clearly outweigh concerns over the possible future use of weaponry against the UK armed forces.

It might be a good thing to have meaningful governmental control over the arms trade. But the government, and especially UKTI DSO, defines its role rather differently. UKTI DSO exists to help arms companies sell weapons. Many of their target countries are involved in conflict or are have poor human rights records, including countries classified in the UK Government's own human rights report as having "the most serious wide-ranging human rights concerns". The focus of UK government policy is on arms promotion, not control. UKTI DSO co-organises DSEi, providing political, financial and logistical support, and giving legitimacy to this deadly trade.