United Kingdom

Activists in London spent the first week of September repeatedly obstructing and delaying the set up of the DSEI arms fair, one of the world’s largest exhibitions for the arms industry. Thousands of activists – including groups from Europe – took part in a week of action, and over a hundred were arrested. WRI affiliates Campaign Against Arms Trade, Trident Ploughshares, Peace Pledge Union, Agir Pour la Paix and Vredesactie took part.

Experts from the United Nations has identified fragments of laser-guided missile systems used by the Saudi military in Yemen that they concluded could break international law. The fragments were from a guidance unit stamped with the name "EDO MBM Technology ltd", a company based in Brighton.

As thousands of protesters in Hong Kong gather to protest the proposed “Extradition Bill”, police have used “less lethal” weaponry produced by the company American company Amtec Less Lethal Systems.

On Tuesday 18th June the UK's court of appeal has ruled that arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful in an appeal brought against a previous decision by Campaign Against Arms Trade.

In June this year, the UK will celebrate its annual Armed Forces Day, a national day of celebration praising British troops and their role in the world. The chosen town for the focus point of national activity, with members of the royal family visiting, an enormous parade and a military themed family fun-fair, is the medieval and heavily militarised town of Salisbury. While the national event is always the biggest, smaller events take place across the whole of the UK.

The British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt has urged Germany to end it’s ban of weapons exports to Saudi Arabia. Hunt has written to his counterpart Heiko Maas, and described how the ban is impacting British companies ability to fulfil their own contracts with Saudi Arabia on a visit to Berlin to discuss Brexit.

This November, many activists from around the world took action against the militarisation of young people in their countries, cities and towns. This was part of a global action: the International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth. Initiated by War Resisters' International, the week was held for the 5th time this year. 

A new report reveals that the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) is actively funding research into technology supporting the development of armed autonomous drones.

Next week (12-18 November) is the International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth. For the fifth time, activists from across different countries will be organising events to raise awareness on how the military and military values are promoted to young people, and how we can challenge it.

In the United Kingdom, campaigners have been resisting arms fairs being held in their cities. In Glasgow, dozens of activists held noisy protests outside the Undersea Defence Technology exhibition and conference, held at the cities Scottish Events Campus (SEC). In Farnborough and London, activists protested against the Farnborough International Airshow - biannual, week-long event, combining a public air show with an international trade show attended by military delegations from all over the world.

On Thursday 2nd August, over 40 artists descended on the Design Museum in London to remove their submissions. The artists and activists who contributed pieces to the exhibition were protesting against the museum hosting an event that facilitated the arms trade.

Activists in Germany and the UK organised actions during public military days in their countries.