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<\/a><\/p>\nAn Edinburgh councillor has spoken out after a city committee voted not to ban arms firms from testing military equipment in city parks.<\/p>\n
In December 2024, arms manufacturer Leonardo was given permission to test communications equipment in the Braid Hills.<\/p>\n
Green councillor Ben Parker said he was \u2018disappointed\u2019 that councillors chose to not back his motion, which would have seen the practice banned.<\/p>\n
He continued: \u201cToday, Councillors had a chance to stand up for peace and instead chose inaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite community objections and a clear moral imperative, the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties have voted to continue to allow arms manufacturers to test their equipment in our beautiful, publicly owned, green spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Council has previously taken a strong stance on opposing advertising and sponsorship from arms manufacturers, and it is completely hypocritical to then allow these same companies to use our beautiful public space to test their equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when we are witnessing the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, we should not be supporting companies who profit from arms sales to the Israeli Government in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cllr Parker had originally put the motion forward for discussion at May\u2019s full council meeting, but an amendment by the Liberal Democrat group sent it to the Culture and Communities Committee for discussion.<\/p>\n
In a deputation to the committee, he urged councillors to take a stand on the issue, drawing comparisons to the city\u2019s Labour council taking a stand against apartheid during the 1986 Commonwealth Games held in the city.<\/p>\n
That year\u2019s games were protested widely, and boycotted by 26 nations, due to the UK Government\u2019s relationship with the then white-minority government in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Liberal Democrat councillor Fiona Bennett said: \u201cI have been to Iraq twice, once in 2018 with an NGO I\u2019m very closely involved with and again in 2019 with the UN supporting victims of ISIS.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw first-hand\u00a0devastation throughout northern Iraq and in particular in Mosul \u2013 images that will never leave me, and images that will haunt me, for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe events unfolding around the world right now are harrowing. And I know people on the ground in Gaza right now, I can\u2019t bear what they\u2019re telling me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is incredibly difficult, we\u2019re being forced to confront balancing our ethical values and responsibilities with the very real fragility of our national security.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the most fragile and uncertain political, global landscape in my lifetime, and I really worry about the future our daughters have in front of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when we talk about banning testing, are we saying there should be no such testing anywhere in the UK?<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if so, are we inadvertently undermining our own ability to defend ourselves at a time when global threats are growing and becoming even more complex?\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillors narrowly supported an amended version of the motion put forward by the Liberal Democrat group, which did not pursue a ban.<\/p>\n
Instead, it referenced the city\u2019s draft parks management plan, which empowers council officers to ban any activity which will or could \u2018endanger\u2019 any person or property.<\/p>\n
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter<\/p>\n
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