Mark Thomas
Arms and the Man
Mark Thomas exits Downing Street and there is relief all round. On two previous occasions he unfurled a large banner and on another presented a golden dog turd to the unfortunate doorman – all in the name of campaigning.
This time he was with children from a local school to present a petition and a sculpture made from toy guns, nicknamed the dove of peace. The dove was inspired by a Christian Aid project in Mozambique where decommissioned weapons were turned into furniture and sculptures.
Thomas has been a comedian and activist for over 20 years. It was in the mid 1990s that he achieved notoriety with his show, The Mark Thomas Product, a mix of stand up comedy and the kind of hard facts that were often beyond belief.
Thomas has been a comedian and activist for over 20 years. It was in the mid 1990s that he achieved notoriety with his show, The Mark Thomas Product, a mix of stand up comedy and the kind of hard facts that were often beyond belief.
He soon became a thorn in the government’s side as he found incompetence, corruption and down right indifference under every stone he turned
The show became must see viewing not only for the conspiracy seekers but also for ministers, policy makers and heads of business, who, if they were unlucky enough would be on the receiving end of the Mark Thomas treatment which would inevitably rumble on in the press.
Knowledge is power
Back to now and Thomas has been off the screens for a while researching and writing his new book, ‘As used on the famous Mandela’, all about the arms trade, a subject – like everything he’s worked on – he’s become an authority on. So much so, he was recently invited to the Foreign Office to give a talk on export controls. This man knows his stuff.
For instance, on the arms trade, there are estimated to be 640 million small arms at large in the world, to which 8 million are added a year. Half a million people are killed by them every year – a staggering one person a minute.
It’s not just a problem for developing countries.
‘If you live in London, or most of the big cities, you’re probably not far away from the scene of a gun crime. Gun control needs to happen here’, he says.
That’s why he’s calling on the government to have an international arms trade treaty. For him it’s an issue like debt.
‘It’s a no brainer. Cameron and Blair will support it, everyone can wear the wristband. It just needs to happen.’
He believes that Britain has better regulations than most countries but enforcement is another issue.
For instance, on the arms trade, there are estimated to be 640 million small arms at large in the world, to which 8 million are added a year. Half a million people are killed by them every year – a staggering one person a minute.
It’s not just a problem for developing countries.
‘If you live in London, or most of the big cities, you’re probably not far away from the scene of a gun crime. Gun control needs to happen here’, he says.
That’s why he’s calling on the government to have an international arms trade treaty. For him it’s an issue like debt.
‘It’s a no brainer. Cameron and Blair will support it, everyone can wear the wristband. It just needs to happen.’
He believes that Britain has better regulations than most countries but enforcement is another issue.
‘It’s inevitable that these guns will get into what’s described as the wrong hands. What we need to be doing is reducing the amount that’s out there.'
He cites a recent example that made the news about guns found in Iraq.
Up to 20,000 second hand Beretta pistols were sold to a company in Cornwall. That company then sold them to a company in London who then sold them to the Iraqi police force who lost half of the guns to Al-Zarqawi's supporters. The Foreign Office wouldn't comment on the story.
Up to 20,000 second hand Beretta pistols were sold to a company in Cornwall. That company then sold them to a company in London who then sold them to the Iraqi police force who lost half of the guns to Al-Zarqawi's supporters. The Foreign Office wouldn't comment on the story.
It's all about the money?
Part of the problem is lack of funding, there seems to be no budget to do the job.
He attended an arms fair in London’s dockland where he found five companies promoting their electric shock weapons. ‘It’s illegal to sell and promote these weapons in the UK. Nobody stopped them though, customs officers, DTI officers, the Met police, MOD and others from various branches of government didn’t find this stuff because it’s not a priority.
'There’s a whole host of stuff happening. We’ve uncovered two examples of companies selling weapons to Sudan and Customs & Excise hasn’t even bothered to follow it up. There are big questions on enforcement.’
It seems a daunting task curtailing this trade when there is big business and such huge amounts of money involved. Where do you start?
‘The art of it is to be proactive and shut the loop holes before the evidence comes through that the loop holes are being used. Because they will be.’
Whatever your view on the arms trade, it must be a rare example of a thriving British industry where the product is solely made in the UK with skilled labour and no outsourcing. I ask if the government’s failure to act is because it’s good for jobs?
More stats to hand.
‘We carried out some research, verified by two academics, and we estimate that the Arms trade is subsidised by £850 million a year. There are 65,000 workers involved in the export of defence equipment in Britain. That works out at about £13,000 per worker, per year.’
If that’s what we’re paying then let’s stop it. There are other things we could be putting the money into - hospitals, schools for example.'
Thomas believes it’s not about jobs, it's all about the UK government being able to punch above it’s weight on the foreign stage. Arms deals are high level deals that involve senior government ministers on both sides of the transaction.
He attended an arms fair in London’s dockland where he found five companies promoting their electric shock weapons. ‘It’s illegal to sell and promote these weapons in the UK. Nobody stopped them though, customs officers, DTI officers, the Met police, MOD and others from various branches of government didn’t find this stuff because it’s not a priority.
'There’s a whole host of stuff happening. We’ve uncovered two examples of companies selling weapons to Sudan and Customs & Excise hasn’t even bothered to follow it up. There are big questions on enforcement.’
It seems a daunting task curtailing this trade when there is big business and such huge amounts of money involved. Where do you start?
‘The art of it is to be proactive and shut the loop holes before the evidence comes through that the loop holes are being used. Because they will be.’
Whatever your view on the arms trade, it must be a rare example of a thriving British industry where the product is solely made in the UK with skilled labour and no outsourcing. I ask if the government’s failure to act is because it’s good for jobs?
More stats to hand.
‘We carried out some research, verified by two academics, and we estimate that the Arms trade is subsidised by £850 million a year. There are 65,000 workers involved in the export of defence equipment in Britain. That works out at about £13,000 per worker, per year.’
If that’s what we’re paying then let’s stop it. There are other things we could be putting the money into - hospitals, schools for example.'
Thomas believes it’s not about jobs, it's all about the UK government being able to punch above it’s weight on the foreign stage. Arms deals are high level deals that involve senior government ministers on both sides of the transaction.
Something you can do
One such minister he has in his sights (pardon the pun) is Malcolm Wicks, the UK minister for energy. Part of his remit is to manage the export control office which licenses arms exports.
‘Some things can be done really quickly, some take a bit more time. Here’s something really simple.’
There’s a small part of the export law that regulates torture equipment. It only regulates itemised equipment such as stun batons, electro shock, leg cuffs, shackles.
In the book he finds out about a company trying to purchase foot heaters for an interrogation room. The foot heaters had a range of 20-200 degrees celsius.
‘Because they’re not on the torture list you can sell them.’
Then there’s the white noise example.
‘Some things can be done really quickly, some take a bit more time. Here’s something really simple.’
There’s a small part of the export law that regulates torture equipment. It only regulates itemised equipment such as stun batons, electro shock, leg cuffs, shackles.
In the book he finds out about a company trying to purchase foot heaters for an interrogation room. The foot heaters had a range of 20-200 degrees celsius.
‘Because they’re not on the torture list you can sell them.’
Then there’s the white noise example.
'If that equipment had been going to Glastonbury you’d go, “hooray”...
‘A few years ago the Dubai special branch ordered a white noise generator and strobe lights. Everyone knew they were for sleep deprivation which is possibly torture.
'If that equipment had been going to Glastonbury you’d go, “hooray”. If it’s going to a room where people are going to be interrogated you’d say, “that really shouldn’t go there.”’
A catch all clause would put the onus on the exporter to report those things and then it’d be up to the government to make a decision on it.
It seems like another no brainer and something campaigners may be able to bring about by simply emailing the man in question.
Bigger changes may take time but the book is sure to put the wheels in motion. As we spoke, the lawyers were going over it one last time. Ministers and journalists beware, this summer’s silly season might be cancelled.
'If that equipment had been going to Glastonbury you’d go, “hooray”. If it’s going to a room where people are going to be interrogated you’d say, “that really shouldn’t go there.”’
A catch all clause would put the onus on the exporter to report those things and then it’d be up to the government to make a decision on it.
It seems like another no brainer and something campaigners may be able to bring about by simply emailing the man in question.
Bigger changes may take time but the book is sure to put the wheels in motion. As we spoke, the lawyers were going over it one last time. Ministers and journalists beware, this summer’s silly season might be cancelled.
Email Malcolm Wicks
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