Arms Fairs

EDM number 811 in 1990-91, proposed by Dafydd Elis Thomas on 08/05/1991.

That this House notes that 28th April to 1st May marked the second anniversary of the Baghdad Arms Fair; notes that 13 United Kingdom arms producers attended the Fair, including British Aerospace which displayed its Hawk fighter jets; further notes that the United Kingdom Government made no effort whatsoever to stop firms from attending the event despite the fact that it was held one year following the Halabja massacre where Saddam Hussein used chemical weaponry against the Kurdish people, killing an estimated 4-5,000 people; believes that United Kingdom presence in the Baghdad Arms Fair ties in with the historic betrayal of the Kurds and Iraqi democrats by Western powers; further believes that such arms fairs, wherever they are organised, are a primary source for increasing international arms sales; calls for the total abolition of international arms sales to countries who persistently violate basic human rights; and further calls for the abolition of all arms fairs and exhibitions of military equipment, starting with the Defence Component Equipment Exhibition from 16th to 18th May and the Royal Navy Equipment Exhibition from 1st to 6th September.

This motion has been signed by a total of 14 MPs.