People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin has described the fifty million pounds investment in military technology announced by the British government as “blood money". The investment in military industry spending has been widely welcomed by Unionist politicians.
Councillor Harkin claimed that companies involved in weaponry and technology to be used in war would not be welcome in Derry and should not be welcomed anywhere:
“The global arms trade is a morally indefensible industry that profits from the taking of human lives and creating misery for billions of people. So-called 'civilised' and 'developed' nations spend trillions annually on military expenditure.
These resources could save millions of lives through healthcare, education, and poverty alleviation.
Instead of investing in a murder machine that serves the interests of billionaires, super-rich shareholders and powerful corporations, we should and can be investing in jobs in health, in education, in building housing, in retrofitting homes, in building non-fossil fuel energy, in public transport, in the building of play parks, in the arts and so much more.
Those are the jobs we should be investing in. These jobs serve humanity and improve the quality of our lives. The military industry does the opposite. It destroy lives and destroys civilisation.
Weapons companies and what are euphemistically called ‘defence' industries are the scourge of this planet - their profit driven by destruction and terror.
No one here should be making weapons to kill people in Iran, Lebanon, Palestine or anywhere else that finds itself a target of US imperialism or Israel or Britain.
Raytheon was sent packing from their base in Derry and I have no doubt that the people of the North will mobilise to take on the parasitical arms companies wherever they infect our communities.
The Invest NI chief was put in his place at a council meeting when he tried to give the ‘jobs at any price‘ argument. We should all stand with the victims of war, not those who profit from their murder.
We have a Derry City and Strabane District Council corporate policy of supporting BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Movement - and there is no greater BDS target than the weapons industry.
No one can claim to stand for Palestine yet support companies who make the weapons to slaughter Palestinians.
The arms industry should be abolished, not normalised as an 'area of opportunity' and profit."