Countdown to DSEi - less than a month to go!

From 8-11 September, London's ExCeL centre will welcome over 25,000 arms dealers to shop for weapons at the DSEi arms fair. CAAT will be there to call for an end to the fair, and an end to the government support that makes it possible.

From east end to west end, from ExCel to Westminster, from DSEi to UKTI - take a journey with CAAT on 8 Tuesday September.

Join us at the ExCeL centre at 11am, to protest at the fair's opening - then hitch a ride on the CAAT bus to take our message into central London. From 1pm we'll be holding our own fair on the doorstep of UKTI DSO, the government department that supports DSEi. It will be a fun day with a serious message - stop DSEi, close UKTI DSO.

Find more information on the day, and the other events planned for DSEi week online .

LONDON appointed by Aegis Trust to secure corporate sponsorship for Rwandan genocide survivors campaign

LONDON has been appointed by the Aegis Trust – an independent, international organisation that is dedicated to eliminating genocide – to secure a sponsor for the charity’s “Candles for Rwanda” campaign.

The online Candles for Rwanda global campaign marks the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide and is being primarily driven by a series of viral films which show prominent celebrities, politicians and diplomats lighting candles in memory of those who lost their lives. The films, which aim to encourage donations, feature individuals including Scarlett Johansson, Ben Affleck, Sandra Bullock and David Cameron. The films can all be viewed at www.candlesforrwanda.org/donate and on YouTube.

LONDON is working with Aegis Trust to secure corporate sponsorship for the initiative and to develop the online campaign in order to maximise public awareness and increase the number of donations made.

Commenting on their appointment, Michael Moszynski, CEO of LONDON said:

“Aegis Trust has achieved an amazing coup in securing the support of some of the most prominent people on the planet for this very important initiative. However without corporate sponsors to secure funding of £250,000 to promote global awareness of the initiative, people will not know about the campaign or how to donate.

This is a global issue and a global campaign so as a new type of global agency we are giving our time at no cost to do what we can do to help spread the word. I would like to personally appeal for an individual, media owner or company to come forward to help make this happen. ”

Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, said:

“The backing of prominent world figures for Candles for Rwanda has created an opportunity to change the lives of people still suffering from one of the international scandals of the past two decades. They are not sitting with a begging bowl. But we owe it to them to lend a hand in rebuilding their lives and their country. There couldn’t be a better partner than LONDON behind this; I know with support from sponsors something special can happen.”

MPA: London crime figures continue to fall

Commenting on the Met's annual crime figures, MPA Vice Chair Kit Malthouse said:

"These latest crime figures are good news for Londoners. I want to commend the Met for its determination in tackling those offences of most concern to our communities, in particular street crime and violence, with crime in London now at its lowest level for ten years.

"The success reflected in the figures is the direct result of the unstinting efforts put in by police officers and staff across London and anti-crime initiatives that we have worked hard with the Met to put in place.

"Overall, the reduction in crime is a positive achievement for the Met this year. Total recorded crime in London is down by 2.2%, 18,621 fewer crimes when comparing 2008/09 with 2007/08.

"Youth violence has also dropped, proving that the Blunt 2 strategy, which uses knife arches to detect whether people are carrying weapons, is working. There are 2,209 fewer victims of youth violence than last year. This figure also exceeds the target set for the Met by the MPA. The MPA sets deliberately tough, testing targets that will stretch the Met, but that we believe are fully achievable with a more focused and tightly defined use of intelligence-led policing together with more effective resource management.

"Most crime categories, apart from hate crime (including rape) and business crime, show a year on year reduction, with the overall sanction detection rate continuing to rise to 26.2%.

"Hate crime offences, domestic violence and recorded rape have all seen increases in crimes recorded by the police this year. It may be that increases in reported crime reflect increased confidence that the police will take such matters seriously, and the rise in sanction detections in this area though still at a low level, is encouraging.

"The increase in business crime reflects the growth of shop lifting offences and may be directly connected to the current economic situation in the capital.

"The MPA knows full well that there is still much work to do and we will continue to scrutinise progress to ensure the service provided to Londoners gets better year on year. The MPA and the Met will continue to work together to tackle criminality, achieve results and make London a safer city for all our communities. "

Notes to Editors
Total recorded crime in London is down by 2.2% or 18,621 fewer crimes when comparing 2008/09 with 2007/08. The number of recorded crimes remains under 900,000 for the second consecutive year.

With the exception of business crime, the majority of crime categories show a year on year reduction.

The overall sanction detection rate has continued to rise and stands at 26.2%. This shows a steady increase in sanction detections with the rate doubling in the last 5 years. Decreases in sanction detection rates are seen for serious acquisitive crime (-0.2 percentage points), residential burglary (-1.3 percentage points), business crime (-0.9 percentage points) and vehicle crime (-0.2 percentage points).

(BERR) Real help with lending and advice for local businesses

Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Timms MP today urged local companies to take advantage of Government-backed support on offer to help them through the economic downturn, at the first regional lending roadshow in London today.

Mr Timms said Government action was increasing lending available from the banks and easing cash flow pressures by allowing businesses to delay payment of taxes and business rates.

The London roadshow brings together Government Ministers, representatives from the banks, small business owners and experts from the Business Link advice service.

Businesses will be able to raise lending issues affecting their companies and will be given information and advice on sources of additional lending and support from the banks and Business Link advisers.

Financial Secretary, Stephen Timms MP said:

"Today's meeting is the first in a series of lending road shows across England aimed at bringing banks and businesses together to improve understanding of the pressures on business, and the support banks are able to provide.

"As MP for a London constituency I know that many local businesses are feeling the pressure, as cash flow has become tighter and access to credit has been squeezed.

"The government understands the vital contribution London's businesses make to the region and to the UK economy as a whole. That's why we have taken decisive action to get credit flowing again and why it's crucial that businesses understand what support is available to them from banks and the government, and how they can access it."

Today's meeting is the first in a series of lending road shows across England including events in Salford on 14 April and Milton Keynes on April 21.

(DFT) Best feet forward as London pupils say goodbye to the school run

Primary school children across London are swapping their parents' cars for the pavement in return for a share of £1.8m of Government money. 94 schools in the capital have been awarded up to £1,000 to encourage pupils to walk to school, helping them to keep fit and reducing the number of journeys made by car.

'Walking buses' are convoys of pupils accompanied by staff or volunteers which follow a set route to school, and are amongst a range of measures introduced by local heads in recent years to curb the number of cars on the school run. Now those schools whose schemes have seen a sufficient drop in the number of car journeys to and from the school gates are set to benefit from an extension to their funding.

Transport Minister, Paul Clark, said:

"We have always been clear that we want as many children to walk or cycle to school as possible. Not only will this help tackle the issues of childhood obesity and carbon emissions, it is also an excellent way for young children to learn more about road safety. I am delighted that these 94 schools in London are doing such great work."

Schools which have managed to save an average of five return car trips a day will be receiving a grant of £1,000 to continue their work, while those running smaller schemes will each receive £500. Typically, grants are spent on organising and promoting the schemes, in addition to providing equipment such as high-visibility clothing.

(DFID) London women compare themselves to Kenya's motorbike mums

With Mother's Day fast approaching and mums in London are looking forward to being given chocolates, breakfast-in-bed or homemade cards, the Department for International Development (DFID) wants to show how people in London have helped save lives in places where simply becoming a mother is fraught with danger.

Whereas mums in London are concerned about getting pain relief while giving birth or getting to the hospital on time, women in Nyanza province, in Kenya, worry about their babies surviving in an area where one in five children do not live to see their fifth birthday. Figures also show that 560 women per 100,000 in Kenya (rising to 1,000 in some parts of Kenya's Nyanza province) die during pregnancy, in childbirth or postnatal period. This compares to eight per 100,000 for the UK.

A new YouGov poll, reveals that 27 per cent of women in London were 'very worried' about not being able to lose their 'baby-weight', and 40 per cent said they were concerned about the impact the patter of tiny feet would have on their finances.

For pregnant women in Nyanza Province, just getting to the hospital can pose huge problems, with many needing to walk for more than an hour whilst in labour to get medical care at the local hospital.

In Kenya though, with DFID's assistance and the help of the British taxpayer, innovative solutions are being found to local problems, such as paying for a motorbike ambulance which is helping to save lives in a rural area.

A motorbike-ambulance operates in Nyanza Province and is fitted with a sidecar, which is used to transport women to their nearest maternity hospital. This 200cc motorbike-ambulance, which is specially built for negotiating rough rural terrain, has a specially constructed padded sidecar, in which a patient can lie down safely strapped in. The motorbike-ambulance collects women from the lakeside villages, meaning mum and baby have a much better chance of survival.

Financial worries after the birth are much less of an issue than the fact that 30 per cent of new mums in Nyanza province worry about not being able to easily access good maternity care.

One penny in every UK tax pound goes towards helping the poorest countries and funds projects such as DFID's Essential Health Services programme, providing pre-natal and postnatal care for mothers and babies in Nyanza Province. A health centre building is currently being refurbished as a maternity wing and is due to open in May.

Douglas Alexander, International Development Secretary said:

"Women's health is critical to a country's future. When a mother dies in childbirth everyone suffers - her child, her family and her community.

"That's why DFID makes improving maternal health in developing countries such a priority - from training for nurse-midwives, as I saw for myself in Kisumu in Kenya, to funding clinics, ambulances, immunisation programmes and health education."

Mary Atieno, 24, from Gwassa in Nyanza Province, is due to have her child on Mother's Day. She is considering naming her baby Doreen - after the senior midwife at Magunga. Mrs Atieno says:

"I'm not worried now about any problems - I'll come to the hospital and anything can be sorted out. The sister knows how to make everything all right."

Judith Awuma, 22, is attending the post-natal clinic with her six week old son, Joseph:

"We came to hospital because we know it's safer - my grandmother wanted me to stay in the village, but I said no. You can be helped in the hospital if there are complications. It was my first pregnancy, and I wanted everything to go right."

DARFURI SURVIVORS TO RALLY IN LONDON AS ICC DECIDES ON BASHIR ARREST WARRANT

Today the judges at the ICC will announce whether or not they are going to issue an arrest warrant for Omar Bashir, the President of Sudan, on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide in Darfur.

If a warrant is issued, it will be the first time that such a step has been taken against a sitting head of state. As the ICC judges announce their decision in the Hague, Darfuri survivors will be gathered in capital cities across Europe to remember their murdered loved ones and destroyed communities – the victims of this crisis, whose slaughter demands justice.

London rally. In London, they will congregate for a commemoration outside the Sudanese Embassy from midday to 2.00pm, reading out the names of over a thousand victims and holding a minute’s silence at 1.00pm, the moment the ICC’s decision is announced.

“Khartoum will make a lot of noise that this is a politically motivated assault on the President, and through him, the Sudanese state and Sudanese people,” says Ishag Mekki, Humanitarian Officer for the Darfur Union – the umbrella group for Darfuri exiles living in the UK. “Amid that noise, just remember that on Bashir’s watch, millions of Sudanese men, women and children have been driven from their homes, killed or raped in Darfur. Not because they carry guns, but because of who they are. This is a matter of justice, not politics. And we, the survivors, know how desperately justice is needed.”

Darfur perpetrators implicate Bashir

Ahead of the ICC’s announcement, in a film released by the Aegis Trust (see earlier article) even the perpetrators themselves have begun to speak out against their masters in Khartoum; Janjaweed fighters describing how they call in Government airstrikes before attacking, and soldiers explaining how they were ordered by senior officers to rape girls as young as eleven or twelve.

“The rape and murder of the innocent is completely contrary to the tenets of Islam. It is contrary to basic principles of humanity. And it is a crime in International law. Would you accept it if your loved ones were the victims?”, asks Nejwa Gabir Ahmed, a survivor from Darfur living in the UK. She adds: “Unless the perpetrators are brought to justice, and unless justice is seen to be done, there will never be peace and reconciliation in Darfur. And we, the exiled, will never be able to return to our homeland with peace in our hearts.”

Call to UN Security Council: resist pressure from Khartoum over Article 16

It is widely expected that if the ICC issues an arrest warrant for Omar Bashir, politicians and diplomats in many quarters will increase the pressure for the UN Security Council to invoke Article 16 and suspend the process of international justice for Darfur.

“I ask the decision-makers at the UN Security Council; do not lightly trade away justice for the victims, or give it up in the face of blackmail from Khartoum,” says Darfuri survivor Khatir Mohammed, General Secretary of the Darfur Union. “A murder suspect is not let off the charges if he threatens to go out and kill more people. Nor should Omar Bashir, or any of those suspected of crimes against humanity in Darfur, be allowed to get off the hook by threatening peacekeepers, aid workers or our people in Sudan.”

A new report just released by Aegis, ‘The Enforcement of International Criminal Law’, addresses ways in which the international community could strengthen prospects for enforcement of any arrest warrant against Bashir.