Throw the book at BAE – CAAT at the BAE AGM 2009

The BAE AGM is one of the constants of the CAAT calendar. Every May we mobilise our supporters to line up to ask the sort of questions the BAE Board definitely do not want to answer. 2009 was no exception.

This year we decided to focus on what happens inside the AGM, rather than outside. Even so, the day started with a small group of CAAT supporters holding posters highlighting BAE’s rising profits and ethical record. As usual, the area outside the giant Queen Elizabeth 11 Conference Centree was heavily policed and we were confined to a small holding pen, made even more frustrating by the narrowed pavements and extra barriers thrown up by roadworks. Hopefully, the Korean tourists and French schoolchildren who passed by understood at least some of our message.

At least you can see our messages in our photos. Although BAE faithfully recorded the entire AGM on film, shareholders cannot use recording equipment inside the meeting.

We were faced with the usual bland setting. The BAE Board – all male, almost all white – sat on the rostrum. Most stayed mute, letting Chairman Dick Olver dominate the meeting. Apart from a report from Chief Executive Ian King, and a few short replies from others, it was Olver all the way.

He started by talking about BAE’s commitment to “total performance” which also meant a “commitment to corporate responsibility and high standards of business conduct” and “behaving responsibly is the right thing to do”. In fact, we heard a lot about ethics throughout the meeting, mainly because CAAT shareholders asked question after question about it.

Among the questions asked by CAAT supporters were issues of BAE participation in DSEi (“yes”), human rights in Saudi Arabia (“not as bad as people make out”); arms sales to India and Pakistan (“yes” to both”) ; job losses in the UK (“yes, because of MOD requirements decreasing with withdrawal from Iraq, but still the UK’s largest employer of graduates”; manufacturing enviromentally-friendly weapons (“I am sure this is a possibility”) ; continuing corruption allegations in South Africa (“We dont have agents; on occasion we use advisors appointed by a panel chaired by an external lawyer”; previous commitment to a budget for harnessing weapons for civilian use (“nothing has happened with that budget”); business turned down for ethical reasons (“I am not going to tell you because of competition”).

There were questions that even the dominating Dick Olver could not answer. A CAAT question elicted an answer that showed Olver was not aware of what was written in BAE’s own Corporate Responsibility report. Another question on the number of SFO investigations BAE was still facing got the initial answer: “Probably four or five – I don’t know”. Pressed further Olver named Romania, the Czech Republic, Tanzania and South Africa, and said that he wished that the investigations would come to a “speedy, rigorous solution”.

Asked about BAE’s stake in MBDA who are involved in the manufacturing of French nuclear weapons, Olver confirmed that BAE had a 37.5% stake but didn’t make nuclear weapons but nuclear-powered submarines but that “that [nuclear] information is classified – we are not allowed anyway near that”. However, in answer to a later question, Olver confirmed that BAE was manufacturing nuclear-powered attack submarines and that BAE “is involved in discussions about plans to replace Trident”.
For CAAT the day wasn’t completely satisfactory. We didn’t have a chance to ask all our questions.  But it was good to see the steely Dick Olver steadily lose some of his formerly impenitrable sang-froid. By the end he was distinctively techy while the Board seemed more uncomfortable than ever. We got revealing answers to some questions and a few laughs as well.

Dick Olver told the meeting that he will stay on as Chairman till 2013. Well, CAAT will be there every year till 2013 and beyond. Thanks to everyone who attended, inside and out – and see you again next year.

The cuckoo has landed… at UKTI

CAAT media co-ordinator Kaye Stearman writes…

Monday morning, 30 March, at 8.30am. and the pavement outside Kingsgate House, the unlovely concrete box that houses United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI), was in deep shadow. I had volunteered to do the early shift at CAAT’s UKTI demo and was freezing as a result. As the wind whistled down Victoria Street I almost envied the civil servants, arriving for work in a warm building.

As those same civil servants pushed through the rotating door (the title of one of CAAT’s earlier campaigns) they were puzzled to be handed a copy of UKTI’s Defence and Security Organisation (DSO) “performance report”. Like most civil servants they are familiar with glossy government reports. They know that most are exercises in box ticking, highlighting perceived successes and hiding more dubious activities – or spin as we laypeople call it.

One confident chappie declined to take the report. “I already have a copy. I know this report because I wrote it”.

No he didn’t! The “performance report” was actually a carefully crafted spoof concocted by CAAT, to mark the UKTI Board meeting scheduled for later that day. The report contained sections on DSO’s disproportionate staffing, poor value for money, support for arms fairs and for companies like BAE Systems (still under SFO investigation in several countries). I won’t detail the iniquities here – you can read all about them on CAAT’s website.

As the morning wore on, the pavements warmed up a little and so did the reception from passers-by who stopped to listen to our reasoned arguments (hard when your teeth are still chattering) and take our UKTI postcards. But one of my CAAT colleagues found a novel way to keep warm. Not only was Claire seven months pregnant but she was prepared to dress up as a giant cuckoo, complete with beak, wings and two rather scrawny looking chicks (not an indication of her own mothering skills I hasten to add). A few hearty squawks and she was the best show in this part of town. Billy Elliot just down the road could not compete.

By lunchtime I was ready to leave for the comparative comforts of the CAAT office. But by now word had spread that the report was not all that it seemed and staff were heading downstairs to get extra copies. After a few snaps of the camera lens, I left Claire squarking happily on the pavement, secure in the knowledge that when the novelty wore off, there would be more volunteers to take over.

I might have guessed that who they would be since both had form. Ian had been a hit only a month before as CAAT’s “armed baby”, demonstrating outside the Baby Show at the ExCel Centre. You can see how convincing he was from the photos on CAAT’s website (NB this may scare small children). The other was Todd who has impersonated a civil servant, a BAE business executive and a pixie at various times for CAAT (you can find him in various guises on the CAAT website).

I am told that both made fine cuckoos, although not being heavily pregnant, I don’t believe that they could bring the same poignancy to the role as Claire. In any case, they must have been effective as a few days later CAAT received a signed postcard from a passer-by saying that he received the card from a giant bird in Victoria Street.

Our spoof UKTI DSO report proved to be a great success. Once the spoof was rumbled, many UKTI workers were happy to take copies. Some told us how unhappy they were to have such unsavoury goings-on in their department. Demand for the report was so great that our supply was exhausted by 4pm.

But don’t despair, we want to share the report with everyone. Just look on CAAT website at: www.caat.org.uk.

BABY SHOW

London CAAT members descended on the Excel Centre on the weekend of the 27th February as Clarion Events, owners of the DSEi arms fair, were holding a Baby Show there. Two hours of leafleting took place on the Friday and there was a musical protest by East London Against the Arms Fair on the Saturday. But the main London CAAT action was on the Sunday, when a particularly angry baby turned up laden with missiles, guns and a globe which he proceeded to destroy with the aforementioned items. Some passers-by and even exhibitors were drawn towards this strange sight and gladly took leaflets and/or signed the petition we had. There was a preview article by the local website Wharf, which can be found here (http://www.wharf.co.uk/2009/02/first-it-was-nuclear-santa-now.html) and they also sent down a photographer to cover the action. Photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/londoncaat

National Action Day in Nottingham

On Wednesday 11th February, a group of students staged a die-in protest to highlight the University of Nottingham’s extensive links with arms companies. This protest was held as part of a national day of action against the arms trade, called by Campaign Against the Arms Trade Universitys Network.

Click here for the full story on Indymedia

 

Return of Red Warwick

Barnaby Pace updates us on the current wave of anti-arms activism to sweep the nations universities: -

Since 12.30 yesterday a number of Warwick students have occupied our SO.21 lecture theatre. We are demanding firstly that the university help the victims of the Israel-Palestine conflict by sending textbooks and computer equipment, restoring the ability of students in the region to use their right to education. The university should inform students about the issues by funding a series of talks on the conflict. Importantly we feel that the university should end its complicity in the conflict by severing its ties to the arms trade. Our university promotes arms companies in an unquestioning positive light at careers events, does research for arms companies in our academic departments and has university finances invested in funds which do not preclude arms trade investments, and this is an unacceptable status quo.

We have been expressing our solidarity with both the students trapped in the Gaza conflict who can no longer continue their education and all the victims of the war. The feeing of solidarity with the other universities where occupations have taken place is also very important. SOAS, LSE, Essex, Birmingham, Sussex, Kings College, Oxford and Newcastle have all had occupations or have ongoing occupations. Messages of support have been hugely empowering we have had a constant stream of messages from other students, Campaign against the arms trade activists, trade unions, political groups, private individuals like Tony Benn and academics like Avi Shlaim.

Right now this feels really big, with this wave of occupations sweeping the country, re-invigorating the anti-war movements in universities that many thought had ended decades ago. It harks back to the days when Warwick University was known as Red Warwick for its campaigning and activist culture. We hope that through these occupations and new generation of student activist will be inspired to resist and campaign against the injustices of our world and fight against the arms trade.

We have been putting on some fantastic talks with representatives of the International Solidarity Movement, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Socialist Party, Stop the War Coalition and others speaking tonight. We were all deeply moved by our speaker last night. Manal Timraz who owns a restaurant in Coventry, the outskirts of which Warwick University is built. Manal spoke about the experiences of her own family in Palestine and experiences as a UN aid worker. She emphasised the uniting nature of humanity and how although we can be personally touched by the people we know who suffer and lose their lives in conflicts,  but every life is unique and special and should be mourned, no matter what side of a border they are on, what god they pray to or what their ideas are. We must always remember that every number in the death count is a person with dreams, ambitions and a life to lead. We can hope that maybe if the person who pushed the button to drop the bomb that killed a human being thought about what that bomb would destroy they might reconsider. We hope that those in a factory in England making a small part, that goes into a military aircraft that drops bombs on fellow human beings, will think about what their own work leads to, and might think again about the validity and morality of their work.

We have had our motives questioned by our Jewish-Israeli society, but we have succeeded in convincing them of our genuine belief that every life is precious, and that we can recognise that we are united by our desire for peace in the region. Although we are all deeply political about the issue of Israel-Palestine we understand that we all share this one ideal, and that in our reclaimed space on campus we can discuss the politics and learn about everybody’s positions.
In Coventry the city of Peace and Reconciliation, which has suffered so much from the horrors of war 60 years ago, we should be mindful of the consequences of war were there are only victims.  It seems fitting that as part of this national and international effort to help the victims of this conflict   we can hope that in some small way our protest might contribute to the ending of the cycle of violence in the region.

We hope that you can support what we are doing and hope that you will follow our protest on our blog at www.warwicksolidaritysitin.wordpress.com

Barnaby Pace is the coordinator for Weapons out of Warwick