CAMPAIGN AGAINST ARMS TRADE

To: David Cameron

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Dear David Cameron, I am writing in response to the speech by Conservative Defence Spokesperson, Dr Liam Fox, to the UK Defence conference. Liam Fox said he wants to prevent the wars of tomorrow, yet went on to commit to "use defence exports as a foreign policy tool". Arms sales guarantee neither peace nor security. It hasn't worked for past governments: arming the Shah in Iran didn't prevent the tanks falling into the hands of the ayatollahs and selling arms to Argentina didn't stop the invasion of the Falklands. Once military equipment has been exported we have little control over how it may be used. The current government has recently made high-level political interventions to help arms companies sell to Libya. Does arming Libya increase the UK's security? Arms sales do not help the economy either. Whilst the global arms companies benefit, even Ministry of Defence economists had to acknowledge that you cannot use economic arguments to justify military exports. The current government has given these jobs totally disproportionate support through UK Trade and Investment, which has more staff working on military exports than those engaged in all of the organisation's other industry-specific trade promotion. We need new policies for future peace and security – not the failed politics of the past. The Conservative Party should commit to: *Ending the disproportionate government support given to arms exports, and stopping the corporate influence over the UK's foreign policy agenda *Promoting real security solutions – such as investment in green energy to prevent dangerous climate change, secure our energy supply and create green jobs. Yours sincerely,