BAE Systems, one of the world’s biggest arms dealers, have been attending Edinburgh’s Careers Fairs for several years and have been met with student protests each time. This time last year, students held a stall outside the Careers Fair and even managed to confiscate some of BAE’s materials. At the end of the Fair, one of the students promised “we’ll be back again at every careers fair until the University gets the message and stops inviting arms dealers on to campus”. This year, the exhibitor list was kept secret but, true to their word, activists returned to the careers fair only to find that there were no arms dealers present. They spoke to a University steward who suggested that arms dealers had chosen to stay away as previous protests and non-violent direct action had exposed some of their activities they would rather keep hidden. The success in Edinburgh follows on from the withdrawal of Thales from a Careers Fair in Leeds and shows that protest works. Arms dealers are finding it increasingly to recruit the students they so desperately need. If you would like to kick arms dealers off your campus, please email us at [email protected].
