• The Arms Trade thrives on proxy wars.

• Many asylum seekers are fleeing from armed conflict. If our MPs really want to "stop the boats", they could start by campaigning against the arms trade.

• The arms trade rewards the Rich and Powerful.

• The arms trade hurts the Poor and the Weak.

It is not easy to establish where the arms used in conflicts have originated. However, the use of UK arms in conflict zones includes the use:

•. by Israel in attacks on Gaza; see XR Statement

•. by Saudi Arabia in Yemen

•. by Saddam Hussein in Iraq against Iran, (and subsequently against British troops in Iraq)

•. by Libya despite a UN embargo

•. by the Indonesian military in East Timor, Aceh and West Papua. (Recall Hastings' Andrea Needham's brave stand against this trade).

•. by Zimbabwe in the Democratic Republic of Congo

•. by Argentina in the Falklands War (again against British troops)

After the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, share prices soared for some of the world's leading arms firms. BAE Systems saw a 70 percent increase, Sweden's Saab doubled its price, and Germany's largest arms company, Rheinmetall, trebled its price. Europe's military spending went up by 13 percent in a year and overall world spending increased by 3.7 percent to over $2 trillion, with every sign of further increases.

The longer the war, the greater the profit!