What is STAF?

Stop the Arms Fair (STAF), formed in January 2011, is a network of groups and individuals campaigning to put a stop to arms fairs in the UK, and in particular DSEI – one of the largest arms fairs in the world.

The network coordinates groups and individuals who are organising to resist the arms fair, and provides logistical and practical support. We organise in working groups focusing on areas such as publicity, legal, welfare and outreach.

We have held collective days of action themed around diverse struggles against militarism, and have been a supportive presence for groups organising protests and public awareness raising.

Our resistance is anti-racist, feminist, non-violent, queer and trans inclusive, internationalist and anti-capitalist. 

If you would like to get involved with the network as a group, or as an individual, please get in touch. Email resistDSEI@protonmail.com or contact us on Instagram or Facebook.

Can we actually stop the arms fair?

Shutting down a multi-million pound arms fair protected by security fences and police lines, with a huge amount at stake for the organisers and the UK state might sound like a pretty big ask.  But it has been done before.

The Australian International Defence Equipment Exhibition was shut down for good by protests in 1991.  APDSE was intended to be the first arms fair held in Australia for 17 years, but didn’t go ahead, in the words of the Acting Premier Kevin Foley, because of concerns about “the scale of the planned protests”, “the cost of security” and, without any hint of irony, supposed “possible threats of violence”. Then, in 2008, the Asia-Pacific Defence and Security Exhibition (APDSE) was cancelled due to public opposition.

More recently and closer to home, the Defence, Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability (DRPTE) arms fair was chased out of Cardiff then Birmingham in 2019, after having been driven from Bristol in 2014. Glasgow sank Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) in 2018, with the local council vowing never to host arms fairs in the city again.

This has to stop. Together we can stop it.

Follow us on Instagram or Facebook, spread the word, and join us on the streets as we mobilise to Stop The Arms Fair!