Arms company that sold missiles to Gaddafi is a 'role model' for post-Brexit trade, says UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon
The Defence Secretary also said the Government was backing more arms sales to Saudi Arabia
In 2007 MBDA signed a contract to provide £200 million worth of missiles and military communications equipment to Colonel Gaddafi’s regime in Libya. He was deposed in 2011 during a brutal civil war.
The firm also makes the Brimstone and Storm Shadow missiles and sells them to the Saudi Arabian air force, which is bombing civilians in Yemen. The UN estimates that that Saudi-led forces have caused the vast majority of civilian deaths in the country’s bloody conflict, with reports of Saudi forces bombing schools, hospitals and food factories. It is estimated that one third of Yemen’s 24 million people are at risk of starvation.
Anti-arms trade activists slammed the Defence Secretary for courting the arms company, accusing him of glorying a firm that “profits from war and arms tyrants”.
Sir Michael said MBDA had built “a great reputation manufacturing missiles that keep us safe” as he unveiled a £539 million MoD contract for the firm to supply Britain with three new missile systems. He said the contract was worth 130 jobs in Britain.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against the Arms Trade said: “If Fallon believes MBDA as a role-model then it says very worrying things about how he sees the UK's post-Brexit future
“MBDA is a company that profits from war and arms tyrants, it is among the last companies Fallon should be encouraging others to replicate.
Arms company that sold missiles to Gaddafi is a 'role model' for post-Brexit trade, says UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
