Making a Killing: Bristol Uni involvement in the arms trade

bristol | corporations | news report Monday November 21, 2005 14:25 by anna - Amnesty International, People & Planet, Bristol Campaign Against Arms Trade

Recent research by Bristol Campaign Against Arms Trade has documented the links between Bristol University and the arms trade. Here, Maeve Keane and Anna Stavrianakis question whether as an institution run for the public good, Bristol University should have an ethical policy about what it invests in.

In light of recent research by Bristol Campaign Against Arms Trade (BCAAT), exposing the links between Bristol University and the arms trade, Maeve Keane and Anna Stavrianakis question whether as an institution run for the public good, Bristol University should have an ethical policy about what it invests in.

Bristol is well known to have been largely built on the profits of the tobacco industry and the slave trade. Our University is no exception: the first chancellor of Bristol University, Henry Overton Wills, made his fortune from slave-produced tobacco. The Wills family were very important benefactors to the University, donating both the Wills building and Wills Hall.

It is thought that Bristol has put its unethical past behind it. The hippy feel of Montpelier and Gloucester Road, combined with recently becoming a fair trade city, make Bristol appear to be very progressive. However, today Bristol is doing just as well out of the arms trade as it did out of the slave trade in the 18th century.

At least 15 arms manufacturers have offices and factories based in Bristol and are making large amounts of money from their enterprises. Companies include BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, and Thales, all major international arms-producing firms, as well as a number of smaller companies that provide parts and components to the larger firms. Of all these, BAE Systems is the largest company, with total military sales in 2004 amounting to US$15 billion. The majority of arms manufacturers based in Bristol are involved in making military aircraft; and naturally, military aircraft are designed for use in combat. Such aircraft have seen active service in places such as, Indonesia, where BAE Systems Hawk jets have been used in East Timor and Aceh. Between 100,000 and 250,000 people out of a population 600,000 in East Timor died in the occupation by Indonesia that began in 1978. And more recently, Hawks were used in Aceh in 2003, and 3,000 lives were lost in the first year following the May attacks. Clearly Bristol is still making money from a business which profits from the misery of others.

Unfortunately the University of Bristol is no exception in doing well from the arms trade. Research by Bristol Campaign Against Arms Trade (BCAAT) has discovered that Bristol University invests in, researches for and receives funding from arms manufacturers and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Should an institution that is meant to generate knowledge for the public good invest in or conduct research for such an ethically dubious industry? Should we as students have a say in what industries our fees and departments support?

Our University currently has 10,000 endowment shares in the Smiths Group. Smiths is a wide-ranging group with Aerospace, Medical, Sealing Solutions and Industrial businesses. However, 25% of its total sales are military and in 2002 the Smiths Group’s total military sales amounted to US$1.1 billion, and this is set to increase. Smiths’ 2002 Annual Review states that the reduction in civil aircraft production was ‘counterbalanced by rising requirements for our military aerospace and detection products’. Smiths provides a range of highly integrated systems to companies such as BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Boeing; there are plans to build more than 3,000 F-35 fighter aircraft, which are anticipated to be exported to countries such as Israel. In 2002, Smiths received unwelcome attention amid the growing concern over Israeli activities in the Occupied Territories - it was reported by The Guardian that missile trigger systems made by Smiths Group were used in US-made Apache attack helicopters supplied to Israel. Companies argue that the responsibility for export decisions rest with the Government, which issues the licences for the export of military equipment. But the arms industry and Government are deeply intertwined, making the distinctions between them sometimes paper-thin. Companies need to acknowledge their responsibility for the suffering inflicted by the arms trade. And the Government needs to stop hawking weaponry around the world, using taxpayers’ money to promote arms sales and insure arms companies against the risk of recipients defaulting.

As well as investing in the arms trade, Bristol University is involved in conducting research for it. Bristol is one of six universities that do research for Defence Technology Centres (DTCs), funded by the MoD to promote collaboration between the arms industry and universities. DTC-funded research is carried out in the departments of Mathematics, Statistics, Neuropsycholgy and Electrical Engineering. More questionably, Bristol University is involved in researching for arms companies which export arms to particularly dubious regimes around the world. For example, the departments of Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics are all involved in collaborative projects with BAE Systems. BAE Systems has sold arms to regimes involved with human rights abuses. Despite extreme Israeli military violence towards Palestinians since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, BAE Systems has provided head-up displays for US-built F16s destined for Israel.

The Department of Engineering Design has industrial placements with several arms manufacturers, including GKN and Weir Strachan & Henshaw. GKN has sold military helicopters to Zimbabwe and Iran, both of which have dubious human rights records. GKN has also sold arms to oppressive regimes (e.g Malaysia, Libya), as well as human rights-violating states (e.g. Turkey, Saudi Arabia). Weir Stracham & Henshaw were involved in the Food-For-Oil scandal 1991-2003. The Weir group PLC is unable to account for US$4.3 million of its Oil for Food cash.

Concerned about the fact that their tuition fees are supporting the arms trade, Bristol University’s Amnesty International Society has launched a Clean Investment campaign to try to encourage the University to divest its shares in the Smiths Group. Students recently wrote letters to William Liew, Assistant Finance Director of Bristol University, outlining their concerns. They suggested that as an institution run for the public good, Bristol University should have an ethical policy about what it invests in.

William Liew responded to Amnesty’s letters by arguing that “currently, the University's investment managers are required simply to seek the best return on the endowment fund in order to generate as much income as possible and so help the organisation achieve its goals - particularly in teaching and research”. This raises the question of what a university’s goals should be. Is a university meant to be run as a business, seeking the best returns possible to generate the best income? Or is a university about more than that? Is it about gaining knowledge to further human knowledge for the public good? If it’s the latter, then surely the University should have an ethical policy about what it invests in and researches for. I am not suggesting that a university should not conduct research into defense issues and technologies at all. We live in a world in which states have the right to self-defense, and this requires weaponry. However, I do think that universities should be responsible in which arms companies they research for and invest in. To invest in or conduct research for an arms company that, with the blessing of the Government, exports arms to unstable regimes or regimes with particularly poor human rights regimes is irresponsible. It perpetuates conflict which leads to unnecessary death, destruction and suffering.

A campaign by students for Clean Investment at The London School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS) led to the announcement that SOAS is going to sell all of its investments in arms companies. Dr Graham Dyer, President of SOAS AUT (the higher education union) branch, said: "Universities have no business supporting these killers. SOAS staff and students have played their part in making the arms trade history." Staff and students at Bristol University should play their part in making the arms trade history too.

To join the Clean Investment campaign at Bristol University email:
Amnesty International society- jm1360@bristol.ac.uk
Bristol Campaign Against Arms Trade (BCAAT)- astavrianakis@hotmail.com
People & Planet- mk3576brisol.ac.uk