"We believe that pleas from our brothers and sisters around the world amount to a call to conversion. We believe that it is time to have a fundamental review of our role in the world with regard to our arms dealing. Christian communities around the world remind us that fundamentally we are all sisters and brothers, children of the one God. They urge us to do what we can to stop the flooding of their countries with weapons."

As Christians, we are called to be peacemakers. Yet as a nation we are sowing the seeds of war around the world by exporting hundreds of millions of pounds of armaments. The proliferation of weapons around the globe does not bring security - in fact, just the reverse. The lesson of the last century is that wars cause further wars, fuel deep hatreds and rarely solve problems of injustice or abuse of rights. Scripture tells us that real security does not come from weaponry but from justice. 'Integrity will bring peace, justice give everlasting security ' says Isaiah (32:17). To be a nation that is known for providing real security in the world, to be a nation that truly defends the poor and needy, we need to do all that we can to bring justice and peace to the world.  

Christian communities around the world remind us that fundamentally we are all sisters and brothers, children of one God. They urge us to do what we can to stop the flooding of their countries with weapons and to end the exploitation of political differences and conflicts to make financial profit . We believe that these pleas from our brothers and sisters around the world amount to a call to conversion. We believe that it is time to have a fundamental review of our role in the world with regard to our arms dealing.  

Whilst it is true that the current government has recently introduced legislation to close certain loopholes and has somewhat improved the transparency of weapons dealing, the actual amount of arms that are exported continues to rise - from £3.2bn ('93), to £4.8bn ('95) to £5.9bn ('99). We have greater expectations of those who govern us. In addition, the majority of arms export licenses are granted for exports to Middle East and developing countries. As Pope John Paul II has said, the "inherent violence" of the "scandalous arms trade … spawns the many armed conflicts which stain our world with blood".  

In recent years, our Churches have made clear statements on the evils of the arms trade, offering other visions for peace and security. We are at the beginning of the World Council of Churches Decade to Overcome Violence and the United Nations Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, we believe that this is an opportune moment to begin a process of conversion which will lead us to action and change. In particular 

• the UK government must tighten its export controls and keep to those guidelines already in place
• Government subsidies to arms export companies - totalling around £800m per year - must end.
• the government should help companies involved in the arms trade reorientate from military to civil production by creating a National Conversion Fund