One of the world’s biggest arms manufacturers has been advertising in the main entrance at the Labour party’s annual conference for several days and barely any of the delegates seem to have noticed.
A video advertisement for BAE Systems, the British defence and aerospace giant, which sells billions of pounds worth of high-tech weapons to Saudi Arabia, has been displayed on a loop for at least three days.
The presence of the advertisement surprised anti-arms campaigners, given Jeremy Corbyn's outspoken opposition to the sale of weapons to foreign countries. In Labour's campaign manifesto, the party promised to immediately suspend arms sales by UK companies to Saudi Arabia that might be used in the conflict in Yemen.
Corbyn's concern about alleged human rights abuses by Saudi Arabia in Yemen is such that representatives from the Saudi embassy were refused permission to attend Labour's conference in Brighton.
Thought @jeremycorbyn was against arming Saudi. So why are BAE systems advertising their export “successes” at… https://t.co/gUBP4Ed1kD
The BAE advertisement was placed in the conference lobby by Senate Media, a London-based production company. It boasts that BAE contributes £11 billion a year to the British economy and creates thousands of jobs.
A representative of Senate Media said the ads it's displaying around the conference hall were signed off by the Labour party.
Its presence was picked up by a few people on Twitter, but has largely gone unnoticed by most delegates.
In her conference speech on Monday, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry accused the Conservatives of “rank hypocrisy” for pursuing foreign policy that put business ahead of human rights. She specifically attacked the Tories for allowing the sale of weapons by Britain to “their friends in Saudi Arabia dropping cluster bombs on innocent children in Yemen”.
Tory ministers have been “listening far too much to lobbyists for the arms trade and repressive foreign regimes”, Thornberry told the conference.
The campaigners criticised Labour for allowing weapons manufacturers to have a presence at the conference given the party's position on the sale of weapons to foreign regimes that might be involved in human rights abuses.
Lindsey German of the Stop the War Coalition, which was chaired by Corbyn for four years, told BuzzFeed News that it was “reprehensible” that defence companies were allowed a presence at the conference. “I think it’s really wrong ethically,” she said.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) said: “The Labour party was right to ban the Saudi regime from its conference, yet it is welcoming companies that have played a central role in the brutal and ongoing destruction of Yemen.”
CAAT also criticised Labour’s shadow defence team for planning to attend a drinks reception sponsored by Boeing, the US aircraft manufacturer, which also makes weapons used by the American military.
Boeing sponsors this drinks reception to try to exert political influence over Labour policy and policy-makers and to whitewash its image
The reception, hosted by Labour Friends of the Forces, is due to be held in the Hilton Brighton Metropole Hotel, next to the main conference venue on the Brighton waterfront.
The anti-arms campaigners said the presence of BAE Systems and Boeing at the conference was inconsistent with Thornberry's remarks in her speech.
A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn referred a request for comment to the Labour party press office.
A Labour spokesperson said in a statement: “The next Labour government will immediately reform the way decisions are made on the export of arms and halt their sale to repressive regimes.
“There are a wide variety of exhibitors from all sectors at Labour conference. We encourage delegates and visitors to discuss and debate the issues.”