Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) is one of the world’s largest arms fairs, and provides an opportunity for over 1600 arms companies to market their weapons and services to over 30,000 participants from across more than 50 countries around the world.
DSEI is next due to take place on the 10th-13th of September 2019. We will be gathering with our allies to stop it. Join our ‘No Nuclear Day’ on Wednesday 4th September to block construction on the abhorrent fair.
What is DSEI?
Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) is one of the world’s largest arms fairs, held in London every two years. The fair is organised by Clarion Events and heavily supported by the UK Government’s Ministry of Defence and Department for International Trade.
DSEI features over 1600 exhibitors who display weapons ranging from sniper weapons to tanks, promoting arms sales to countries with records of grave human rights abuses. The fair has also hosted representatives from some of the world’s most authoritarian and repressive regimes.
What is more, in previous years, the arms fair has been found to sell weapons that are banned from sale in the UK due to their heinous nature, such as electro-shock and torture equipment and cluster bombs. Despite these violations, the UK government has failed to withdraw its support for the fair.
Why an No Nuclear Day?
While the majority of the world’s governments are coming together to try to enact the UN Global Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, many nuclear states are spending billions upgrading their weapons of mass destruction. Arms companies are profiting from huge sums being spent on new nuclear weapons – and many of these will be present at DSEI.
DSEI is a major networking event for businesses involved in the nuclear weapons industry. Nuclear weapons are highly complex systems, and many companies and suppliers are involved in their development, manufacture, and component supply. Arms fairs like this are crucial events for business to business networking and contracting, especially at this stage of the Trident renewal process.
Nuclear weapons companies involved in the fair include BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin – these companies are responsible for building the UK’s nuclear weapons submarines and managing the UK’s nuclear warheads respectively. We must protest their profiting from these immoral weapons.
Get involved
CND will be partnering with other anti-nuclear groups to host the ‘No Nuclear Day’ on Wednesday 4th September 2019, as part of Stop the Arms Fair’s two week programme of protests to the fair. Join us.
- You may also wish to attend one of Yorkshire CND’s non-violent direct action training days as they prepare for the protest – please contact info@yorkshirecnd.org.uk or visit Yorkshire CND’s website for more information.
- Trident Ploughshares are keen to speak to CND groups about the DSEI arms fair, how you can get involved and what support roles are needed on the day — including legal observers. They can also organise non-violent direct action workshops. Please get in touch with Trident Ploughshares if you’re interested: info@tridentploughshares.org.
- Join and share Stop the Arms Fair’s Facebook event page for more information on the whole two weeks of protest.
Keep an eye on this page as we update it with more information on this upcoming protest – you can also see our No Nuclear Day event page for more information.