St Athan Spin

the reply to a letter to the St Athan Consultation regarding ethical concerns around the role of Raytheon in the Metrix Consortium. (see below). It echos the line of the Welsh media and politicians.

Dear

Thank you for your email regarding Raytheon and its role in the Defence Technical Academy (DTA).

In the first instance, I would like to reassure you that Raytheon does not manufacture cluster bombs or any associated delivery vehicles. Any assertion to the contrary is based on dated information that is no longer correct. In addition, Raytheon has excellent relations with the Norwegian Government and continues to deliver a wide range of products to them, none of which are related to cluster munitions.

In context of the DTA, Raytheon Professional Services, the company’s training arm, will be involved in providing technical training to DTA personnel in aeronautical and electro mechanical engineering and communications/IT disciplines.

Raytheon Professional Services is well practised at delivering training around the world, in both the private and public sectors, and its clients range from NASA to General Motors. I hope this addresses your concerns, but if you have any further questions then please do not hesitate to be in touch using one of the following methods below.

Kind Regards,

Gemma
St Athan Project Public Consultation Services Call: 0845 618 0016

Write to:Camargue Group Ltd, Freepost RRKG-AZTG-JLJX,St Athan Consultation
Eagle Tower,Montpellier Drive,Cheltenham,GL50 1TA

Email: enquiries@st-athanconsultation.co.uk
Visit: www.st-athanconsultation.co.uk

Companies Excluded from the Investment Universe

...Defence and Space Company) EADS Finance BV General Dynamics Corporation L3 Communications Holdings Inc. Lockheed Martin Corp. Raytheon Co. Thales SA. The press release from the Ministry of Finance The recommendation from the Advisory Council on Ethics

(Ministry of Finance, 03.02.2007)

Recommendation on Exclusion of Cluster Weapons from the Government Petroleum Fund Oslo, 16 June 2005

postmottak@fin.dep.no;

...Corp, L3 Communications Holdings Inc, Raytheon Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Alliant Techsystems...from the Government Petroleum Fund. Raytheon Company produces, according to its own web-site, 3 http://www.raytheon.com/products/stellent/groups/public..

(Ministry of Finance, 02.09.2005)

Norway excludes 3 arms producers from oil fund [Reuters]

Read the recommendation here (pdf)

The Ethical Guidelines List of Excluded Companies

Recommendation on Exclusion of Cluster Weapons from the Government Petroleum Fund- The Advisory Council on Ethics for the Government Petroleum Fund recommends that the companies General Dynamics Corp, L3 Communications Holdings Inc, Raytheon Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Alliant Techsystems Inc, EADS Co (European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company) and Thales SA be excluded from the Petroleum Fund because they are presumed to be involved in production of cluster weapons.

Serco Group Plc should be kept out of Wales because of its involvement in the production of nuclear weapons.

Why are our politicans not calling for the government to have ethical guidelines for investment like Norway.

Council on Ethics- Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global - Read more here : http://www.regjeringen.no/templates/Kampanje.aspx?id=434879&epslanguage=EN-GB

The role of the Council on Ethics for the Government Pension Fund - Global is to provide evaluation on whether or not investment in specified companies is inconsistent with the established ethical guidelines. The Ministry of Finance makes decisions on the exclusion of companies from the Fund's investment universe based on the Council's recommendations. Both the Ministry's decisions and the Council's recommendations will be made publicly available on this website.

Recommendation on the exclusion of the company Serco Group Plc. The company is recommended for exclusion because of its involvement in the production of nuclear weapons.

As we have been saying for years...Serco - one to watch http://www.aldermaston.net/campaigns/serco_2004.php

Protest at OU working with Raytheon arms dealers

Cynefin y Werin (Common Ground) is an all Wales network of organisations which promotes equality, peace, justice, human rights and co-operation between nations, peoples and communities on the basis of sustainable environmental, economic and social development.

Does your university work for/with the milititary?
The proposed military training academy at St Athan will be built and run by a consortium which includes major multinational arms companies, and will train not only British service personnel, but those from any regime or private military company that can fork out the ready cash. This consortium includes the Open University and we call on them to withdraw. there will be a Protest today at 1pm at ou office 18 custom house street Cardiff.

This is part of the National Day of Action for University Ethical Investment - Coordinated events held at universities across the UK, in protest against university shareholding in arms companies. Anne Greagsby coordinator of the campaign against the privaitised military academy at St Athan said, "As a graduate from the opne university I am shocked that they could work with and profit from arms dealers such as Raytheon associated with cluster munitions and Serco and Qinetiq.

The Open University
"Our continued dedication to social justice and equality of opportunity is embodied in a set of commitments and principles. Through these commitments, we will strengthen our position as a university of choice."????

Military organisations - including arms companies and

the Ministry of Defence - annually sponsor hundreds of projects at UK universities.

The Study War No More report examines military involvement at 26 UK universities in order to highlight the impact military funding has on university departments. The report provides information about the funding of UK universities by military organisations, both governmental and industrial. It also intends to support students concerned about the impact their institutions have on international peace and conflict; and to encourage debate regarding the democratic deficit within academic institutions and the ends and ethics of research and research funding.

Study War No More: Military Involvement in UK Universities is a joint project between Campaign Against Arms Trade and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. The campaign website hosts full details of military involvement at 26 UK universities. You can download the Study War No More report, which exposes the ways in which the military sector is being pushed into UK universities, view in-depth data on each of the 26 universities we researched or find out more information on researching and campaigning in this area.
Read more

CAAT

For more info on national campaign, contact Andy at andy@caat.org.uk

http://www.studywarnomore.org.uk/documents/studywarnomore.pdf

Land Securities Trillium for sale & former director labour funding scandal

This is one of the Metrix consortium and the problem is that these companies change hands so one has no idea who could be running the business of the proposed military academy in a weeks time or in a few years time in Wales.

Yetr another director of a company making a fortune from government money. More sleazy directors with dodgy dealings while seeking contracts. I hope we can have assurances that none of the Metrix consortium companies have funded any labour party activities or councillors. but how much the WAG has paid out is not yet known.

Bidders Circling for Land Securities Trillium
PPP Focus.com - Manchester,England,UK
According to various press reports, private equity firms and Macquarie the Australian-based bank are pondering on bids for Land Securities Trillium. ...

Since the Land Securities announced a restructuring in November, it was believed that Trillium was being lined up for a flotation. Whilst source say this may still be the favoured option there are increasing reports that a number of bids are being considered to purchase the division outright.

Analysts have valued the business at between £1bn and £1.5bn. No official news has emerged from either Land Securities or Macquarie Bank and any potential bids are believed to be at a very early stage.
See all stories on this topic

Caltongate Developers funded Labour while seeking council backing
By sooty(Cat)
Mr Chande is a former director of Land Securities, the UK’s biggest property company, and, with Mr Myers, joint founder of Trillium, which won a contract to own and manage the majority of the Department for Work and Pensions property ...portfolio – a 2bn deal that made it Britain's biggest commercial landlord.
Independent Republic of the Canongate - http://independentrepublicofthecanongate.blogspot.com/

Caltongate developers funded Labour
By Mike(Mike)
Mr Chande is a former director of Land Securities, the UK’s biggest property company, and, with Mr Myers, joint founder of Trillium, which won a contract to own and manage the majority of the Department for Work and Pensions property ...
Wade's world - http://mikewadejournalist.blogspot.com/

Qinetiq cuts jobs

Defence site 'to lose 200 jobs' 17th Feb
BBC News – UK About 200 jobs are to go in a Worcestershire town at the defence and security firm Qinetiq, a union claims. The firm, which has a site off Poolbrook Road, ...
"Qinetiq is undergoing a restructuring of its UK business that involves redundancies of up to 400 people."

You have to ask Qinetiq a key partner in the Metrix consortium bid to run the privatised military academy at St Athan, Wales how many jobs they actually intend creating here as they are in the business of cutting jobs - less people - more profit. Not the thousands promised then? That's why PCS the union representing MOD staff are fighting the privatisation!

CND Cymru 50th Anniversary of Global summit

cnd cymru

campaign for nuclear disarmament yr ymgyrch dros ddiarfogi niwclear

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF CND GLOBAL SUMMIT THIS WEEKEND

Activists and campaigners from Wales, will be taking part
in this weekend's  Global Summit for a Nuclear Weapon Free
World, hosted by British CND to mark the 50th anniversary of
the campaign's launch. Other participants in the
conference include Sergio Duarte, the UN High Representative
for Disarmament Affairs, Hiroshima bomb survivor Mikiso Iwasa
and Bianca Jagger the Councilof Europe Goodwill Ambassador and
Chair of the 'World Future Council'. CND will also welcoming
campaigners and activists from across the world - from
Israel, Indian, Pakistan, the US and France.

The Summit, held this Saturday and Sunday in London's City Hall
and opened by Mayor Ken Livingstone, will be the most
significant international conference on nuclear disarmament
since the end of the Cold War. It will draw together leading
diplomatic, scientific and policy experts who will focus on
how to create the conditions for abolishing nuclear weapons,
with the aim of promoting negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons
Convention. Such a convention would outlaw nuclear
weapons in the same way that the manufacture, procurement
and use of chemical and biological weapons have already
been outlawed.

British Government representatives have also been invited
and conference outcomes will be communicated to the Prime
Minister and Shirley Williams, his advisor on nuclear
proliferation. Over the last month both the Prime
Minister and the Defence Secretary have talked about
the need for renewed efforts at achieving reductions
in global nuclear stockpiles.

Jill Evans, Chair of CND Cymru will be taking part in the
Global Summit. A  year ago, Ms Evans was arrested along
with other European elected representatives, for blocking
the gates of the Trident nuclear weapons
base in Scotland. She said today:

'We must take this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment
to ridding Britain and the world of these immoral weapons
of mass destruction. At the same time
we should be looking towards ways of solving international
conflict by non-violent means and addressing the issues
of worldwide poverty, injustice, environmental destruction
and of global warming.

The longer that weapons of mass destruction exist in the
world, the closer the time comes to them being used.
I bring a message from Nuclear Free Wales that nuclear weapons
and the philosophy behind them are not what we, or our children
want or need.'

Kate Hudson, Chair of British CND : "This weekend, exactly half
a century since Bertrand Russell and others addressed our founding
meeting, will help bring us closer to the day when governments begi
substantive negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention."

CND Cymru and supporters, amongst them survivors from the
Hiroshima bomb, will join hundreds of others at the Atomic
Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston on Easter Monday,
24th March for a mass protest on the half-century anniversary
of the first march to Aldermaston.

Plaid Cymru Llwyd, Elfyn Price, Adam

have signed these early day motions ... EDM 892 and EDM 72 yet both will not condemn the Government or evan the Welsh Assembly Government for working with Serco a key partner in the Metrix Consortium who in the biggest PFI/PPP ever are to be permitted to run a military training academy for UK army, navy and airforce recruits and will train mercenaries, soldiers for any regime with the money in Wales at St Athan.

Serco Group Plc should be kept out of Wales because of its involvement in the production of nuclear weapons.

Why are our politicans not calling for the government to have ethical guidelines for investment like Norway.

Council on Ethics- Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global - Read more here : http://www.regjeringen.no/templates/Kampanje.aspx?id=434879&epslanguage=EN-GB

The role of the Council on Ethics for the Government Pension Fund - Global is to provide evaluation on whether or not investment in specified companies is inconsistent with the established ethical guidelines. The Ministry of Finance makes decisions on the exclusion of companies from the Fund's investment universe based on the Council's recommendations. Both the Ministry's decisions and the Council's recommendations will be made publicly available on this website.

Recommendation on the exclusion of the company Serco Group Plc. The company is recommended for exclusion because of its involvement in the production of nuclear weapons.

As we have been saying for years...Serco - one to watch http://www.aldermaston.net/campaigns/serco_2004.php

http://www.serco.com/assurance/defence/nuclear_weapons/index.asp

AWE, the Atomic Weapons Establishment, provides the warheads for the United More information: Kingdom nuclear deterrent. AWE is managed by AWE Management Ltd, (AWEML) a consortium of Serco, Lockheed Martin and BNFL who operate a 25 year contract to maintain and deliver the national stockpile on behalf of the UK Government. The task of delivering the contract has been delegated by AWE Management Ltd to AWE Plc

Read the recommendation here (pdf)

The Ethical Guidelines List of Excluded Companies

Recommendation on Exclusion of Cluster Weapons from the Government Petroleum Fund- The Advisory Council on Ethics for the Government Petroleum Fund recommends that the companies General Dynamics Corp, L3 Communications Holdings Inc, Raytheon Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Alliant Techsystems Inc, EADS Co (European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company) and Thales SA be excluded from the Petroleum Fund because they are presumed to be involved in production of cluster weapons.

EDM 892

GLOBAL SUMMIT FOR A NUCLEAR WEAPON FREE WORLD

05.02.2008

Corbyn, Jeremy

That this House notes the 50th anniversary of the founding meeting of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament on 17th February 1958; supports the campaign's ongoing work to achieve worldwide nuclear disarmament; congratulates the campaign for convening the Global Summit for a Nuclear Weapon Free World on 16th and 17th February 2008, drawing together leading diplomatic, scientific and policy experts, including Ambassador Sergio Duarte, chair of the 2005 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference; and calls on the Government to re-focus on creating the conditions for abolishing nuclear weapons, including facilitating negotiations on achieving a Nuclear Weapons Convention.

Early Day Motion

EDM 72

NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONVENTION 06.11.2007

Corbyn, Jeremy

That this House notes the forthcoming 40th anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; further notes the continued failure of the international community to abolish nuclear weapons or prevent their further proliferation; endorses the unanimous opinion of the International Court of Justice that there exists an obligation to pursue in good faith, and bring to a conclusion, negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control; further notes the recent 10th anniversary of the submission of a model nuclear weapons convention by Costa Rica to the United Nations for discussion; and calls upon the Government to work to achieve progress on multilateral negotiations with the aim of achieving implementation of a nuclear weapons convention by 2020.

Valentines Wish - Make love not WAR

North Wales Pension Funds linked to weapons trade

North Wales pension funds linked to weapons trade Daily Post - Llandudno Junction,UK Examples will be given from the campaign against the planned St Athan Military Academy in south Wales, and to persuade Gwynedd council to dis-invest from ...

A public meeting is scheduled in Capel Salem, Caernarfon, at 7.30pm on Friday organised by the Arfon Peace and Justice Group entitled: ‘Wales – a country without militarism?’ Wales MEP Jill Evans, chair of CND Cymru, and a representative of CAAT are billed as speakers. The meeting will discuss whether it is possible to persuade the political parties to make Wales a country without arms and a military.

Boycott investments in Raytheon!

The campaign agaisnt the St Athan Military Academy accuses the Welsh Assembly Government of hypocrisy over cluster bombs. Politicans profess their opposition to cluster bombs but invite Raytheon to Wales - spend money encouraging Raytheon to Wales - invest in Raytheon!

Rhodri Morgan "we have worked very hard to get this project for Wales. the reference to cluster bombs and Raytheon by campaigners is a simple guilt by association argumnet with absolutely no supporting evidence. They should be ashamed of themselves for using such a smear as a substitute for intelligent argument."

Greens accuse government of hypocrisy over cluster bombs
Earthtimes, UK - 14 Feb 2008 Wellington - New Zealand was accused Thursday of hypocrisy in hosting an international conference aimed at banning cluster bombs while a government pension ...He said the state pension fund in Norway, where the drive for an international treaty prohibiting the use of the weapons began a year ago, had boycotted investments in US companies Lockheed and Raytheon which manufacture them.

Time to stop loving the money from the bomb
Scoop.co.nz, New Zealand -14 feb
The Green Party is calling on the New Zealand Super Fund to urgently withdraw from its ever-increasing investments in cluster bomb manufacturers before the ...

Wellington Conference to Address Cluster Munitions Threat
Scoop.co.nz, New Zealand - 11 Feb 2008
Next week in Wellington the New Zealand Government is hosting an international conference on a treaty to prevent humanitarian disasters created by cluster ...

Police body scraps Qinetiq web site cancelled

Axed ... the website police need to prevent another 7/7

By JASON LEWIS - 9th February 2008

Axed ... the website police need to prevent another 7/7
Daily Mail - UK Senior anti-terrorist planners told a post-July 7 inquiry that a more sophisticated system was needed and the Government paid QinetiQ, the former MoD-run ...
The scrapping of the system adds another scheme to the Home Office's list of cancelled and troubled IT-related projects, which includes failures of projects supporting immigration and passport services, the Probation Service and the Criminal Records Bureau.

A police internet link which senior anti-terrorist officers say is essential to protect the public from a repeat of the July 7 bombings has been shut down.

The Police Portal, designed to allow officers to send emergency information to millions of people in seconds, has been axed amid a legal dispute with the company developing a new version of it.

The website - addressed www.police.uk - was successfully used after the London attacks to enable people to send police photographs and video captured on mobile phones in the aftermath of the bombs.

Scroll down for more ...

A website the emergency services used in the wake of the London bombings has been scrapped

It also enabled the public to report non-urgent incidents to the police without clogging up switchboards.

Last year the service provided details of more than 3,000 alleged offences - including so-called "hate crimes" involving race, religion or sexual orientation.

Senior anti-terrorist planners told a post-July 7 inquiry that a more sophisticated system was needed and the Government paid QinetiQ, the former MoD-run defence contractor, £8.5million to develop it.

But the National Police Improvement Agency, which is responsible for the website, was not happy with progress and has closed it down completely.

A spokesman said: "The system that was in development was not fit for live use due to a range of serious defects and delays." The new site had failed rigorous "user acceptance testing".

QinetiQ has taken legal action against the NPIA. Sources close to the firm said there was nothing wrong with the website which was "ready to go live".

The scrapping of the system adds another scheme to the Home Office's list of cancelled and troubled IT-related projects, which includes failures of projects supporting immigration and passport services, the Probation Service and the Criminal Records Bureau.

Couldn't have done woese putting Qinetiq on e-bay!

“It is difficult to think you could have done worse without putting [Qinetiq] on eBay”

John Pugh, Public accounts committee

Qinetiq 'scandal' MPs overlook MOD property sales - Military ...
While the Public Accounts Committee rages over the sale of the Ministry of Defence’s research division, its property assets have given the taxpayer better value.
Daily news from Property Week - http://propwww.propertyweek.com/section.asp?navcode=2540

raytheon cluster bomb engines

Raytheon Completes Second Successful Engine Test of Joint Standoff ...
FOXBusiness - USA
5, 2008, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Joint Standoff Weapon ExtendedRange missile moved one step closer to powered flight testing when Raytheon ...

JSOW is a joint Navy and Air Force program. It is a family of low-cost air-to-ground weapons that employs an integrated GPS/Inertial Navigation System that guides the weapon to the target. The JSOW uses a common and modular weapon body capable of carrying various payloads. Its long standoff range allows delivery from well outside the lethal range of most enemy air defenses.

The AGM-154A, or JSOW-A variant, dispenses BLU-97 combined-effect bomblets for use against soft and area targets. The program completed production mid- 2007 and is integrated on the F/A-18, F-16, F-15E, B-2 and B-52 aircraft. JSOW A-1 has a BLU-111 warhead (insensitive MK-82) and is primarily for the international market. Turkey ordered 50 in 2006.

More than 400 JSOW-As have been used in combat operations, including Iraqi Freedom. The AGM-154C, or JSOW-C variant, incorporates an imaging infrared seeker for high precision and a multistage warhead, which has both a blast- fragmentation and hard-target penetration effect.

Qinetiq stops blowing up goats and national express

Whats qinetiq up to this week?

qinetiq stops blowing up goats

The End of the Underwater Exploding Goat By Ward QinetiQ Group PLC, which ran the tests on the government's behalf, said the tests were conducted in a facility on Britain's south coast, but declined to elaborate. No statement from the Naval Academy mascot, but we can assume that, ...

National Express loses comms boss to QinetiQ National Express's director of group comms is leaving after seven years to take the top PR role at defence and security firm QinetiQ.

st athan could learn from town that rejected blackwater training camp

California Town Rejects Blackwater, Fires Council Members Who Endorsed Them By Paddy, Cliff Schecter's Blog Blackwater wanted to turn an 800-acre former chicken farm into a training camp for law enforcement officers. Read more » Sure didn't give their politicans an award - hey Smithy from Vale of Glamorgan!