Campaign Against the Arms Trade!

As a long time support of Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) I was delighted to receive an email from the local CAAT branch here in Brighton. I've copied and pasted it here.

Stop the Arms Fair! 

Thursday 6 August 2015, 20:00 - 21:30 Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XG. See venue on a map: https://crm.caat.org.uk/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=293&qid=275707 

DSEI is one of the world’s biggest arms fairs. This September, in London, arms companies will be arriving to display their weapons to buyers from around the world. The UK government helps to organise this arms fair, invites military buyers from around the world, and helps arms companies to make deals, at taxpayer expense. This has to stop, and together we can stop it. Join Campaign Against Arms Trade and Brighton and Hove Amnesty group on Thursday 6 August to find out more about DSEI, and how you can take action against it. Whether you’re new to campaigning or an experienced activist, there are lots of ways to take action against the arms fair. We can target the arms dealers in our midst with daily direct action, mass public actions and creative campaigning- so come along to find out more and help stop the arms fair! It'd be great if you could let us know you're coming to the meeting! Email me at kat@caat.org.uk to rsvp. 

You can also get in touch if you can't make the meeting but would like to take action- there's lots going on that you can join in with! 

Thanks, and best wishes, 

Kat Hobbs 

CAAT Local Outreach Coordinator 

Find out more about the DSEI arms fair: https://crm.caat.org.uk/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=297&qid=275707 

With the sensitivity one would expect from arms manufacturers and traders, they have chosen 6 August for their disgusting arms fair. That day is Hiroshima Day. It was on 6 August 1945, 70 years ago, that the first atomic bomb was dropped on human beings - on Hiroshima in Japan.

This is a good time to mention something happening in Japan at the moment. The Japanese Government is trying to amend its constitution which currently bans Japanese soldiers from operating overseas. They're trying to abandon Japan's pacifist Constitution. Mercifully, there's a lot of opposition within Japan but very little publicity to this issue is being given by the UK media. Raise your voice against the abandonment of the pacifist Constitution of Japan.

A memorable broadcast from Democracy Now!

http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2015/7/21

Profligate spending by EU

This article from the Daily Telegraph of 17 July is interesting. Here is the link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/11747506/eu-diplomats-plan-fine-dining-service.html

More reasonable telephone charges in the UK

My posting today is of an unusual kind for me. Telephone calls in the UK especially from mobile phones have been unreasonable until today. Few people know how much they are paying when they dial an 0845 number etc.

The most iniquitous thing is calls to 0800 numbers which are free for landlines have not been free for mobiles. Many poor people and young people do not have access to landlines and in fact sometimes don't even know what they are! :)

Ofcom, the communications regulator, is introducing a new initiative called UK Calling. It is designed to help make it easier to understand how much it costs per call to call 08, 09 and 118 telephone numbers (also known as ‘service numbers’) and comes into effect from 1st July 2015.