5,000 signatures reached
To: Liverpool City Council
Stop the Liverpool electronic arms fair
Cancel the arms fair set to take place in October at the Liverpool Convention Centre.
Why is this important?
We, the undersigned, call on Liverpool City Council to take all actions available to it to press the ACC Liverpool to cancel the AOC Europe, an arms fair, to take place in a council-owned venue, effectively owned by the people of Liverpool.
From 11-13th October 2021, international arms companies are due to meet up with delegations from a range of repressive states at the AOC Europe 2021, at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool.
The event is an exact replica of the Electronic Warfare Europe, which was cancelled last year after pressure from a large coalition of Liverpool civil society groups. In response to their pressure, the then Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson committed to develop “an ethical charter for LCC and the ACC” in order to “set restrictions on what events we can and should have.”
It is therefore deeply concerning to see an arms fair attempt to return to the city, in a venue owned by Liverpool City Council. Arms merchants, including Elbit Systems and Leonardo, whose weapons are used by repressive states are due to attend the fair.
The City Council must take action to press ACC Liverpool to cancel the AOC Europe and ensure that no further arms fair is allowed in a City Council owned building in future.
We are also outraged to know that the Merseyside Pension Fund, holding local government workers pensions, invests heavily in arms companies including firms mentioned on the AOC publicity for the Liverpool arms fair. We call for sustained efforts to divest MPF holdings from the arms industry.
