They must know that ordinary people don't accept their skewed priorities
As I waited for the right moment to take the stage at last night's annual ADS dinner, I was surrounded by a world where luxurious dinners reward the business of selling the tools of death and repression. In a room full of leading politicians, civil servants and arms dealers, I began to wonder: which ones were responsible for what crimes?
Had the people in this room been among those who sold the weapons to Israel that were used in the assault on Gaza, which killed 2,105 Palestinians, and 495 children? Were they among those who had sold the tear gas used against democracy protesters in Hong Kong? Was it here that MPs were persuaded that renewing the UK's nuclear weapons is a necessity, or that buying useless aircraft carriers for billions of pounds was a good idea?
What about the UK weapons that have been used by oppressive governments in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and Bahrain, and the sign this sends out? When the UK sells arms to tyrannies it acts as a signal of support for the human right abuses that are taking place in those countries.
