Executive Summary

As Christians, it could be argued that our Gospel calling to be peacemakers has become even more important since the events of ‘9/11’ and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. Whilst some commentators argue that it is religion itself that is a root cause of war and armed conflict, people of faith must commit themselves to tackling the real cause of war and violence. Countering the proliferation of weapons and the philosophy of armed might should be a central plank of any serious attempt to build genuine peace and security in our world.

Here in the UK, the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO), a small agency at the heart of government, has been identified as one of the main driving forces behind the arms trade, a source of much misery throughout the world. Established in the mid-1960s, DESO has been instrumental in Britain’s massive arms push - currently estimated to be around £5 billion each year - with the agency itself boasting that “over 75% of this business would not have been achieved without the assistance of DESO”.

The UK has an excellent record in working to relieve poverty both officially through Department for International Development (DFID) and through aid agencies such as Christian Aid, CAFOD and Tearfund. However, this vital support for global peace and development is seriously undermined by the continued spread of arms and military equipment. Whilst official UK development aid through DFID was £3.8bn in 2004/5, in the same year, government spending on global conflict prevention was £134m – about 2.5% of the estimated £5bn annual arms sales figure.1 Whilst its estimated that around 55 staff are employed by the Foreign Office on counter proliferation, DESO has almost ten times that number employed to promote arms exports.

Although the Government argues that it has a “responsible” arms export policy and that it was instrumental in setting up the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria any serious examination of arms exports continues to show that the UK arms exports continue to fuel conflicts, arm human rights abusers and undermine sustainable development.

In his January 1966 statement announcing the formation of DESO (then called the Defence Sales Organisation), Denis Healey stated: “While the Government attaches the highest importance to making progress in the field of arms control and disarmament, we must also take what practical steps we can to ensure that this country does not fail to secure its rightful share of this valuable commercial market.” Forty years later, in our globalised and security conscious world, the financial arguments used to justify the formation of DESO can no longer excuse if they ever did - the continued proliferation of arms which fuels so much conflict and causes so much misery.

Also see Living by the Sword campaign page