Protesters in Putney wrote ‘War starts here’ in chalk outside the offices of company hosting a major weapons exhibition taking place in September. 

Campaigners for Stop the Arms Fair were at the address next to Putney Bridge Station on July 24 to highlight the “war, persecution and torture” being fed by British-made weapons.

Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI), the world’s largest arms fair with 35,000 attendees, will take place in London’s Docklands at the ExCel Centre from September 12 to 15.

About 1,500 exhibitors will have weapons on display and many visitors will be from countries with poor human rights records.

Wandsworth Times:

Protester Ellis Brooks: “We know that war, persecution and torture are happening around the world but it’s through the arms trade.

“And it’s at the cost of British tax payers.”

A spokesperson for DSEI said the event “provides an effective platform for the British defence industry to demonstrate its products to potential overseas customers in a well regulated environment which only serves legitimate companies and governments”.

She said: “All exhibitors at DSEI are required to ensure that all equipment, services, documentation and any other forms of promotion comply with UK, EU and international law.

“Ultimately it is government policy and UK export control legislation which determines who can exhibit at or attend DSEI.”

Britain is a signatory of The Arms Trade Treaty, which regulates trade in an effort to reduce human suffering, and increase transparency and responsible action among states.

However, in the six months after an airstrike on a Yemen funeral by a Saudi-led coalition which killed 140 people, the UK government approved £283million worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

More than 7,600 people have been killed in the conflict, which began in 2015 when a new president was elected in Yemen and rebels who backed the former, Ali Abdullah Saleh, began taking territory in the country.

The coalition, made up of nine African and Middle East countries, backs the current internationally-recognised president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

After the airstrike, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson judged there was no “clear risk” British weapons were being used against Yemeni people.

Mr Brooks said: “They’ve had flimsy assurances from the Saudi Government but we know that civilians are dying because of British-made weapons.

“It’s a stain on the honour of Britain.

“It’s a betrayal of our human rights record.

“The chalk that we used on the road will wash away in the rain but the stain on London’s character is indelible.”

The UK Government is the second biggest arms dealer, followed by the United States.

A spokesperson for the Department for International Trade said the Government “takes its defence export responsibilities very seriously”, stating it operates under “the most robust control regimes in the world”.

She said: “We rigorously examine every application on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National arms export licensing Criteria.

“We draw on all available information, including reports from NGOs and our overseas network, and our export licensing system allows us to respond quickly to changing facts on the ground.

“We have suspended or revoked licences when the level of risk changes and we constantly review local situations.”

Anyone who wants to join the movement can go to Stop the Arms fair.