I am from Cornwall and doing two weeks work experience with CAAT as part of my degree course in journalism. Its only my second day at CAAT but so far its been very exciting being in London. Yesterday we held a protest outside the AGM meeting of Reed Elsevier who run arms fairs as a subsidiary business.
Some of the CAAT team went into the meeting as shareholders and asked questions to the board asking them to justify their involvement with the arms trade, especially in the face of their links to healthcare and the loss of their rating as an ethical company to invest in. They also asked questions about the invitation to arms fairs given to human rights abusers and suspects of genocide.
Outside the meeting our presence made shareholders and members of the board aware of our opposition to the companys involvement in the arms trade. We held banners and gave out leaflets to passers by and it was a good chance to talk to people about the campaign and speak to people from other groups, like Medsin (a healthcare students’ group) and other individuals.
It was really interesting for me to see the campaign in action outside the office and it was an enjoyable day as well.
