On 16 March, a big UK arms fair is being held in Cardiff, and
people are planning to resist it.
According to its website, DPRTE (the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability exhibition) is the “UK’s Premier Defense Procurement Event” and is now being hosted annually at Cardiff Motorpoint Arena. They hosted the arms fair in Cardiff for the first time in October 2014, with exhibitors including BAE Systems, the world’s 3rd largest arms producer, whose weapons are currently being used in the Saudi attacks on Yemen.
There has been active opposition to DPRTE since 2013. The arms fair had originally been hosted at the UWE campus in Bristol, but
was driven out by determined resistance; and has now moved to Cardiff. The protests involved a variety of actions, including blockading the UWE north entrance, causing queues trailing back along the A4174.
