Liverpool Against the Arms Fair is organising a rally against Arms Sales at 9am on Friday 1st April outside the Law Courts in Derby Square.

On that day, two local citizens, Sue Ferguson and Ruth Knox, face trial in the Magistrates Courts for a spray paint protest against the controversial Arms Fair hosted by the Council-owned ACC building last October.

A spokesperson for Liverpool Against the Arms Fair, Kaya Purchase, said,

“Sue and Ruth felt that they had exhausted all legal means of protest. It was clear from the start that Liverpool people and their elected representatives were opposed to this fair taking place. Liverpool Against the Arms Fair organised a campaign involving petitions, letters, lobbying of the Council, culminating in a demonstration. Despite this, the Fair went ahead.

“The fair involved multinationals such as the world’s 4th largest arms firm Raytheon and Israeli drone firm Elbit. On past performance, the Arms Fair will lead to weapons sales. Customers include regimes with appalling human rights records, such as Saudi Arabia, which uses Raytheon bombs on civilians in Yemen. Elbit describes its weapons as “battle tested” on Palestinians in Gaza.

Even before Russia invaded Ukraine the CEO of Raytheon told investors that the company expected to see “opportunities for international sales” amid the Russian threat. After the invasion, shares in Raytheon and other arms giants shot up.

Scene of the crime

The real crime which took place at the ACC last October was the profiteering from the merchants of death. We hope that Liverpool will follow the lead of the Local Government of Seville and will decide that the city will never host an Arms Fair again.

We urge all who are opposed to the promotion of arms in the city to attend our rally (9am to 9.30) in Derby Square on Friday.”

Liverpool councillor Alan Gibbons added: “Ruth and Sue protested according to their consciences to bring to the attention of the public the immoral presence of an Arms Fair in this city. In previous generations the Suffragettes and Civil Rights movements used similar tactics. They accept the consequences of their action and the judgement of the court. Their motivation is a humanitarian one designed to prevent such events taking place at the ACC ever again.”

For further information contact:

Liverpool Against the Arms Fair
Alan Gibbons: mygibbo[at]gmail.com
Kaya Purchase: kpurchase-ward[at]outlook.com