‘Stop building arms factories in the Valleys’ say peace activists

Martin Shipton

Campaigners have criticised two Labour politicians for backing increased arms manufacturing in the south Wales Valleys.

Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare MP Gerald Jones and Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr MS Vikki Howells face calls for public investment to focus instead on services and industries that meet local needs.

The clash comes as Marshall Land Systems plans a new arms initiative in Merthyr, which is already home to General Dynamics Land Systems, where Ajax armoured fighting vehicles are produced.

The Ajax programme has faced years of delays and problems, adding to questions about the town’s growing role in the arms industry.

Campaigners are calling for public money to go instead towards the NHS, housing, schools and local services they say their communities desperately need.

Cymru’n Codi – Wales Rising, which describes itself as a “cross-party ecosocialist and republican campaigning group”, said the Valleys need jobs but argued that investment should be directed towards industries that meet the needs of local communities.

“Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare MP Gerald Jones and Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr MS Vikki Howells in their totally uncritical support of the military investment are dragging us into a very dangerous world,” the group said.

It added that investment in care, education, housing and clean energy “creates more jobs pound for pound than defence spending”, while meeting pressing social needs.

The group also warned that arms production could damage the environment while diverting public money from other priorities, including reducing NHS waiting lists and improving educational outcomes.

“The last thing we need is another arms race. Spending on arms results in damage to our land, air and water,” it said.

“It creates nothing, becomes obsolete quickly and is a recipe for death not for life.”

Campaigners say the developments raise a bigger question about what kind of economy is being built in the Valleys.

Economic regeneration

Mary Winter, from the new Peace Web for the south Wales Valleys – Gwe Heddwch y Cymoedd, said people wanted economic regeneration and good-quality work but questioned whether arms manufacturing was the right way to deliver it.

“Think Peace not War,” she said.

“Government investment in creating jobs – and well-paid jobs – is welcomed by all, but why not ensure such investment is made in industries and community initiatives that help save our planet rather than ones that cause death and destruction?”

Ms Winter highlighted a CND Cymru pamphlet, Beyond the War Economy, which warns about communities becoming economically dependent on arms production.

“Instead of being a single industry community reliant on coal or iron, are the South Wales valleys to become single industry communities reliant on armament production, with all the problems we know that can create?” she said.

Ms Winter said investment could instead be directed towards public services and the green economy.

“Yes, we need to defend our country and we need to create well paid jobs – but we can do all that by developing our NHS and social care, by building affordable homes with large scale home insulation projects, by generating renewable energy, by expanding our public transport,” she said.

“That’s how we best defend Wales for the people of Wales.”

The Peace Web initiative follows a Peace Festival in Aberdare attended by more than 200 people last year. Ms Winter said Valleys communities were drawing on Wales’ history of peace campaigning, from the Women’s Peace Petition after the First World War to Welsh women’s involvement in the Greenham Common peace camp of the 1980s.

She called for the Welsh Government’s proposed “ethical defence framework” to ensure public money was used to tackle child poverty and develop an economy around the needs of Welsh communities.

Influence

Adam Johannes, of Cardiff Stop the War Coalition, praised the work being done by Valleys peace campaigners.

“Arms manufacturers may have money and influence, but the people of the Valleys have something money cannot buy – each other,” he said.

“The Valleys have a long memory of people standing together in the pits, chapels, unions, co-operatives and communities, and traditions of peace and internationalism.

“That spirit of looking after one another hasn’t disappeared. We need to bring it back into the heart of our politics, organise around what communities actually need, and challenge the priorities being imposed on them by arms dealers and politicians.”

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