Press Releases for 2005

KCC SUPPORTS ARMS SALES AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

14th April 2005

Kent County Council has 2 million shares in BAE Systems, the largest European arms manufacturer. This makes it one of the top 12 local authorities in the country(1) supporting a company which sells arms to dictatorships which use them to engage in human rights abuses(2&3). There are other local authorities with no investments in the arms trade at all. Furthermore, there are ongoing corruption allegations and investigations, including by the Serious Fraud Office, of BAE Systems. Kent Green Party is calling for the County Council to clean up its act. Steve Dawe comments:

"Kent County Council has a choice. It can choose to continue supporting arms selling to dictatorships, or move its investments elsewhere. Local authorities can move their investments away from arms trading companies like BAE, and invest in locally-based, ethical companies instead. This would be better for local employment within Kent, and would demonstrate that the County Council cares about the human rights implications of its investments. Kent Green Party challenges the Conservative County Council to act now to clean up its investments."

ENDS c170 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, on 01233 645167 or 07747 036192. Kent Green Party is fielding 33 candidates in the County Elections to be held on Thursday 5th May. Address as above.

Notes:
1. Information based on research by Campaign Against Arms Trade press release - Wednesday 30th March 2005. Edited Extract: CAAT surveyed 99 local authority pension funds in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as part of its Clean Investment Campaign 2005. Twelve local authority pension funds, dubbed 'The Dirty Dozen', each have 1 million shares or more in BAE Systems, Europe's largest arms manufacturer. CAAT is calling for all local authorities to adopt ethical investment criteria and to not invest in arms exporting companies. The Twelve local authority pension funds hold more than a million shares in BAE Systems are: West Yorkshire Pension Fund - 5,457,603 shares; West Midlands Pension Fund - 4,228,553 shares; Strathclyde Pension Fund - 3,817,000 shares, Lancashire County Council - 3,481,396 shares, South Yorkshire Pensions Authority - 2,244,000 shares, Kent County Council - 1,923,825 shares, Derbyshire County Council - 1,640,000 shares, East Riding of Yorkshire Council - 1,500,000 shares, Hampshire County Council - 1,332,289 shares, Teeside Pension Fund - 1,300,000 shares, Essex County Council -1,149,300 shares, London Borough of Southwark - 1,071,670 shares.
2. http://www.caat.org.uk/information/publications/government/who-calls-the-shots-0205.pdf and see other CAAT publications under the Clean Investment Campaign, which has been running since 1991.
3. http://www.angloarabia.com has a collection of articles from UK newspapers about BAE's record in selling arms to dictatorships.

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14th April 2005