Small pockets of violence erupted and while the demonstration was largely peaceful, some were physically escorted from the forecourt of the Mayfair institution.
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A protest over UK weapons sales to Saudi Arabia outside an annual arms trade dinner forced police intervention in Mayfair on Wednesday evening.
Activists from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) were out to disrupt the annual dinner hosted by the Aerospace, Defence and Security (ADS) group, a trade-organisation that represents over 1,000 British businesses.
Small pockets of violence erupted and while the demonstration was largely peaceful, some were physically escorted from the forecourt of the Mayfair institution.
One onlooker described the police tactic as “heavy-handed”, but the event’s attendees disagreed.
Many in the crowd cited the war in Yemen as their primary reason for turning out.
The UK’s ties to the Saudi regime has been much scrutinised in the last 12 months, particularly since the turmoil following the high profile death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Kat Hobbs, a spokesperson for CAAT, was vehement in her criticism, asserting that “the British government is enormously complicit” in the deaths of thousands of Yemeni civilians.
Many more took issue with the closeness of defence contractors and MPs.
At a dinner in which former Foreign Secretary Alan Johnson was the keynote speaker, they found plenty of targets for sustained chants of “blood on their hands” and “Shame!”
While many attendees were reluctant to talk to City News, one dinner guest noted that “unfortunately the world is not the nice place these people think” adding “there are some bad people out there and inevitably, when we, or our allies, get involved in conflict we want them to have the best equipment possible.”
The current Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has previously pointed to the importance of the UK arms trade to British workers noting that if the industry were to move elsewhere, so would the jobs.
But when considering this, one protester was unable to see the other side of the story and asserted that “we need to find jobs that wipe the blood off our hands.”
In parting, a Yemeni woman at the demonstration asked simply “why are they doing such horrible things to the people of Yemen?”
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HeadlineActivists protests outside annual arms trade dinner over war in Yemen
Short HeadlineActivists protest outside annual arms trade dinner
StandfirstProtesters voice concerns over Yemen conflict as Mayfair hotel becomes scene of disaray
A protest over UK weapons sales to Saudi Arabia outside an annual arms trade dinner forced police intervention in Mayfair on Wednesday evening.
Activists from the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) were out to disrupt the annual dinner hosted by the Aerospace, Defence and Security (ADS) group, a trade-organisation that represents over 1,000 British businesses.
Small pockets of violence erupted and while the demonstration was largely peaceful, some were physically escorted from the forecourt of the Mayfair institution.
One onlooker described the police tactic as “heavy-handed”, but the event’s attendees disagreed.
Many in the crowd cited the war in Yemen as their primary reason for turning out.
The UK’s ties to the Saudi regime has been much scrutinised in the last 12 months, particularly since the turmoil following the high profile death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Kat Hobbs, a spokesperson for CAAT, was vehement in her criticism, asserting that “the British government is enormously complicit” in the deaths of thousands of Yemeni civilians.
Many more took issue with the closeness of defence contractors and MPs.
At a dinner in which former Foreign Secretary Alan Johnson was the keynote speaker, they found plenty of targets for sustained chants of “blood on their hands” and “Shame!”
While many attendees were reluctant to talk to City News, one dinner guest noted that “unfortunately the world is not the nice place these people think” adding “there are some bad people out there and inevitably, when we, or our allies, get involved in conflict we want them to have the best equipment possible.”
The current Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has previously pointed to the importance of the UK arms trade to British workers noting that if the industry were to move elsewhere, so would the jobs.
But when considering this, one protester was unable to see the other side of the story and asserted that “we need to find jobs that wipe the blood off our hands.”
In parting, a Yemeni woman at the demonstration asked simply “why are they doing such horrible things to the people of Yemen?”
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