Santa and his elves turned up at Kensington Olympia on Sunday to protest about the spirit of Christmas being corrupted by the owners of the DSEi arms fair. The Spirit of Christmas Fair was taking place and the organisers of this event, Clarion Events, saw no problem with holding this fair and the world largest arms fair. In total, ten people attended and were very vocal in trying to inform the public of the links between Clarion and DSEi. Hundreds of leaflets were distributed and placards with slogans such as Bells not Bombs were displayed. A number of people were concerned by Clarion's links to the arms trade. At one stage an unofficial attempt was made to get an A to Z of chants in the vein of Holly not Howitzers and Tinsel not Tanks.

The demonstration was organised by London Campaign Against Arms Trade (London CAAT) and is a continuation of their campaign to get Clarion to sell their portfolio of arms fairs. London CAAT member Ian Pocock, 35, said “I find it disgusting that Clarion Events see no problem in running such family friendly events as the Spirit of Christmas Fair while also organising the destructive, harmful DSEi arms fair”.

Weapons manufacturers come to DSEi to promote their products to representatives from regimes in conflict, those with terrible human rights records, and with human development needs. This arms fair receives major financial, logistical and political support from the UK government. London CAAT will continue their campaign against Clarion in 2011, particularly as the next DSEi arms fair rolls into town in September, so please get in touch if you want to get involved.