UK must not sell weapons to USA, MP says
MP Alistair Carmichael has called on the UK to suspend its sale of weapons to the USA due to their use against protestors in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mr Carmichael said UK ministers must temporarily ban the movement of tear gas, rubber bullets and other such equipment into America, because of evidence they have been used “against unarmed protestors and journalists”.
He said that failure to do so would “make the UK complicit in the repression of peaceful protest”.
“Around the world people are rightly protesting the systemic racism that is the backdrop of the murder of George Floyd.
“Black Lives Matter and the UK Government should be leading the charge in calling out this grotesque injustice, and condemning the President’s threat of military action against unarmed protesters.”
Mr Carmichael said that on a previous trip to the United States he had witnessed first-hand “how black people continue to be marginalised in parts of the states, several decades after segregation was supposedly ended.”
“It made a lasting impression on me,” he said.
“At home and abroad we must all reflect on how we can act against prejudice on both a personal and community level.”
paula goddard
Thank you Mr Carmicheal ,i personally think that selling Arms to anyone is dangerous ,but to sell to a country led by Trump, is like giving a baby a grenade .
Anne Gair
Alistair, if people didn’t riot they wouldn’t be attacked with rubber bullets etc! Rubber bullets are what keep the rest of the public safe from these rioters, and the police too!
David Spence
The Arms Industry is probably quite large in terms of economics, but it also one of the reasons to perpetrate and instigate conflict to justify such economics.
Political dogma and the subtle brainwashing of the population to justify war and conflict is also one of the main reasons for so much war, conflict and terror over the past 150 years. 9/11 being a casing point to illegally invade 2 countries, and the present conflict thereafter.
Never, due to technology advances in weaponry, has so many people died in the last 150 years or so than at any other time in history. There has been more coinflict, war and misery caused by it than at any other time in history as well.
Why is this the case, and to who benefits greatly from this?
Ian Tinkler
“tear gas, rubber bullets and other such equipment” is sometimes necessary to stop the looters and extremists hell-bent on anarchy and violence. The alternative is to do nothing and let the violent free to rampage, injury and hurt people or a live bullet being the other option!!!. We have very own thugs extreme leftwing and rightwing morons here as well as the USA who are just out for violence. No footy for the thugs to fight over so a protest march will do fine, “Robinson’s “Men in Gear” come to mind along with a host of Militant left-winger anarchists.