A group of campaigners held a protest on Tuesday outside a meeting of Cambridgeshire County Council to draw attention to the large investments that the council pension fund has in the arms industry. This currently includes 768,000 shares in GKN, and has previously included significant numbers of shares in BAe Systems, Cobham and Smiths Group.
In a startling display of the council's contempt for the public that elect it and pay its council tax, Cllr John Albert Powley (Conservative, Soham and Fordham Villages) of the Pension Fund Investment Committee hurled unprovoked abuse at the campaigners from the balcony above the entrance prior to the meeting, calling them "pathetic" and telling them to "grow up".
Previous coverage on the Indymedia Cambridge newswire: [1] [2] [3] [4].
Cambridge Evening News article. (Previous articles [1] [2]).
Varsity (student newspaper) article.
Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) press release.
Welcoming the councillors...
The group used the opportunity to put a Public Question to the council (only the second time the procedure has been used since its recent introduction), asking the council to consider adopting an ethical investment policy precluding investment in the arms industry. Despite the existence of research indicating that an ethical investment policy need not reduce financial performance, the leader of the council, Cllr Keith Walters (Conservative, Sawtree and Ellington), dismissed the idea on the basis that it might do exactly that.
Formed two months ago, the Cambridge Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CCAAT) is a grassroots organisation working to expose the investments that public institutions have in the arms industry. The campaign currently has a twin focus on the County Council and the various colleges of Cambridge University that have extensive investments [9] in arms manufacturers.