Theatrical protest against arms companies at University of Lancaster

Anti arms-trade students protested today at Lancaster campus against the presence of arms companies at the University Career Opportunities Fair.

BAE Systems was specifically targeted by groups of students, who handed out fliers and used fake blood to protest their attendance at the Fair.

Lancaster University Against Cuts (LUAC) took the lead in organising the protest. Several other student organisations, such as People & Planet, Amnesty International and Speak, were also involved.

“We want to raise awareness of arms trade in England, such a prominent issue, as we can see from David Cameron’s trip to Saudi Arabia,” said Chris Witter, a 25-year-old English student who took part in today’s action. “We think that these arms dealers shouldn’t have a place here, at university,” he said.

This demonstration is part of a wave of student protests happening across the UK in response to arms company recruitment. This term has already seen demonstrations in Sheffield, Edinburgh, Warwick, UCL, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway and more. In October, Essex Careers Centre cancelled BAE’s attendance of their careers fair following student protest. The movement to kick arms companies off campus is growing – find out how to get involved below.