Disarm UCL

Congratulations ! Craig Griffiths elected UCLU ethics and environment officer

2009-03-14T09:28:00.005Z

Craig Griffiths, a dedicated People and Planet and Disarm UCL campaigner, has been voted the new ethics and environment officer at UCLU for next academic year.

We hope that Craig will be able to make a real difference and closely monitor the implementation of UCL's ethical investment policy and the work of the Ethical Investment Review Committee.

Congratulations, Craig ! And good luck with the job !

"They just don’t show no disrespect"

2009-02-19T09:51:00.001Z

Mark Steele has mentioned our campaign in his latest comment piece on student activism in the Independent.

Click here to read the piece.

UCL Ethical Investment Review Committee (EIRC) not set up yet !

2009-02-14T08:48:00.006Z

As part of the National Action Day Against The Arms Trade over 40 UCL students and alumni have submitted a letter requesting divestment from arms trader Cobham plc.

We also used the opportunity to ask Jason Clarke, Deputy Director of Academic Services, more detailed questions about the EIRC. Turns out: a month and a half after the adoption of the Ethical Investment Policy the membership of the Ethical Investment Review Committee (EIRC) has not been finalized and no meeting date has yet been allocated.

We are very concerned about this delay in setting up the EIRC and the potential lack of transparency of EIRC decisions. We will monitor the situation over the next month very closely. Please see below for the full answers by Jason Clarke to our questions:

Q: When is the next meeting of the EIRC ?

A: I am currently exploring possible dates for the EIRC's first meeting. I am afraid that I am not able to confirm a date at this stage, but expect the Committee to be convened within the next month or so.

Q: Who are the members of the EIRC ?

A: I am also currently confirming the membership of the EIRC.

Q: Would it be possible for observers to attend the EIRC meeting ?

A: It is not standard practice for observers to attend meetings of UCL standing committees, but I will raise this point with the EIRC.

Q: Will a record of the EIRC meeting be made publicly available ?

A: We intend to issue at an appropriate stage after each meeting of the EIRC the decisions made. It should be noted that there are some matters on which EIRC is authorised to make an independent decision and others on which it makes recommendations to the Investments Committee. We would not expect to publicise recommendations made by the EIRC until they had been considered by the Investments Committee and, where necessary, by UCL Council.

****************************************************************************

Click this link for the terms of reference of the EIRC

The terms of reference state that:

(ii) The Chair of the Ethical Investment Review Committee may, on behalf of the Committee, invite UCL officers or other non-members to attend a particular meeting of the Committee. Attendance of officers or other non-members at meetings of the Ethical Investment Review Committee shall be by such invitation only.

Thus we assume that it would be possible for the EIRC to invite observers to their meeting.

Students celebrate success of anti-arms trade demonstrations

2009-02-14T08:45:00.002Z

Students on campuses throughout the UK have demonstrated their opposition to the arms trade as part of a national Universities' Day of Action. Following on from the recent wave of demonstrations that swept 19 campuses in January, students, supported by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have engaged in activities calling for an end to university involvement with the arms trade.

Click here to read more and who was involved.

NATIONAL ACTION DAY: STUDENTS AGAINST THE ARMS TRADE

2009-02-11T10:02:00.003Z

Today students across the UK are taking action against their universities links with the arms trade.

Click here to read more.

Disarm UCL founded the National Action Day last year together with students from Manchester, Nottingham and Warwick University.

In solidarity with the other student campaigners we will today officially submit the letter demanding divestment from Cobham.

Queen Mary has announced that it will divest from Cobham. When will UCL finally do the same ?

Watch this space !

Queen Mary announces to ditch shares in Cobham

2009-02-03T09:50:00.005Z

Following the occupation of one of their building by students Queen Mary, University of London
announced today that they would divest its' shares in arms trader Cobham plc.

Here is a message by Professor Philip Ogden, Acting Principal of Queen Mary:

"I have responded to the students in occupation of one of our buildings. We (...) have told our financial advisers to dispose of a small holding we had in Cobham. (...)We have an ethical investment policy - ruling out tobacco for example and will now be tightening it further."

Disarm UCL congratulates students at Queen Mary on their great victory and hopes that UCL will now also divest from arms trader Cobham as soon as possible.

Queen Mary occupation blog

Check out their facebook group.

FOR THE LAST TIME: Tell UCL to ditch the arms shares

2009-01-22T10:39:00.008Z

Thanks to everyone who has supported the UCL campaign so far and has helped to bring about this amazing success.

All which is left to do now is to send a request to UCL's new ethical investment review committee and ask them to divest from arms trader Cobham plc.

We have drafted a letter below. So here's what you can do:

Either send the letter yourself to the Deputy Director of Academic Services: jason.clarke@ucl.ac.uk

or e-mail us at info@disarmucl.com with your name, the department you are studying and year of study and we add you to the list of signatories of the letter below. Check this blog for details about the review committee and its decision on Cobham :)

Mr Jason ClarkeDeputy Director of Academic ServicesUCL Gower StreetLondon WC1E 6BTjason.clarke@ucl.ac.uk

Dear Mr.Clarke,

we would like to refer a request to divest shares in arms company Cobham plc currently held in UCL's investment portfolio to the Ethical Investment Review Committee (EIRC).

The equipment produced by Cobham plc generally are subsystems and components, which are then sold to other arms companies such as BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin. These companies then market their weaponry as widely as possible around the world. Although Cobham plc does not often make the headlines, it is an integral part of the global arms trade and its equipment is an important element of many arms deals.

Cobham plc is a multi-national group of companies that is heavily involved in a number of major military aircraft-programmes. It produces avionics, aircraft and missile components and provides military training and communication equipment. For example, Cobham plc produces components of Hellfire Missiles. Such missiles have been used by the USA and are believed to have caused civilian deaths in Iraq. Cobham plc is also responsible for pioneering in-flight refueling which has facilitated the long-range bombing campaigns, that has characterized military operations since the Falklands war.

Cobham plc profits significantly from the sale of military components. It is the world's 46th largest arms producer by military revenue and as such a major player in the international arms trade, which is a major cause of human rights abuses.
UCL as a major university sets an important precedent for the whole sector. Its claim to be a 'global' university with a tradition of liberal ideals and social justice is undermined by its direct support of the 'global' arms trade.

As UCL’s ethical investment policy sets out, investments can be negatively screened if they i.) conflict or be inconsistent with the aims, objectives or activities of UCL, ii) might hamper the work of UCL 'either by alienating financial supporters or potential financial supporters; or by having a material impact on applications from potential students', or iii) are considered by UCL to be unethical, subject to paragraph four of the policy.

We believe that investment in Cobham plc should be brought to an end, as this action would satisfy the criteria in i), ii) and iii). UCL's world class research aims to "shape the future", craft "global citizenship" and improve the world for tomorrow. These are noble aims; the current investment in Cobham plc undermines them all.

We also believe that - in accordance with paragraph four - exclusion of investment in Cobham plc would not result in any significant financial detriment to UCL. The arms trade is a volatile sector, relying on heavy government subsidy and large, highly competitive yet infrequent orders, and does not therefore provide the stability that UCL seeks from its investments. We understand that the current levels of investment in the arms trade is less than 1% of UCL's total investments, and as such its exclusion is unlikely to result in significant financial loss to the university.

In fact UCL's current drive -"the campaign for UCL" - to receive donations from UCL alumni is adversely affected by the investment in Cobham plc, and will continue to be so. Many alumni have already stated - in letters to Provost Malcolm Grant - that they will not make any donations to UCL while investment in the Cobham plc continues. We, the signatories of this letter, will be unable to donate money to UCL now or in the future, if this investment remains.

UCL's liberal tradition - being the first university to admit women & candidates irrespective of religious confession - is a very positive aspect of the university, and a reason for so many students choosing to apply to UCL each year. This is suggested also by the inclusion of such facts in UCL's prospectuses. However we think investment in - and therefore financial support for – Cobham plc, harms this proud history, as the arms trade does not propagate equality and a just society, but rather has warfare as its raison d'être and death and suffering as its consequence. Prospective students who have decided to study at UCL partly on the basis of its history might decide against attending UCL as their tuition fees might support Cobham plc through UCL’s investment.

In conclusion, we are convinced that UCL’s investments in Cobham plc are unethical.

Finally, we believe that the reasons we have set out above are compatible with the charity commission's advice on ethical investment and reflect the views of a wide range of UCL students, staff and alumni.

Yours sincerely,

CAMPAIGN VICTORY: UCL ADOPTS ETHICAL INVESTMENT POLICY

2008-12-20T12:52:00.002Z

From 1 January 2009 UCL will adopt its ethical investment policy.

Click here for the full text of the policy.

This is an amazing victory for the Disarm UCL campaign ! For just over two years we have been campaigning for this policy. Our concerns and opinions were initially dismissed by the Provost but now they have been heard and the ethical investment policy will come into effect on 1 January.

This is a HUGE, HUGE thank you to everyone who helped to make this campaign a success. Your support, hard work and dedication has paid off big time. You should all be very proud of yourselves ! We also hope our victory can inspire campaigners at other universities and shows that students really can make a difference.

Of course there are ways we feel the ethical investment policy can be improved and we will
keep campaigning to improve the policy and make sure that UCL will contribute more profoundly to positive change through its investments. We will also continue to call for equal student representation and - FIRST AND FOREMOST - we will make sure UCL does actually sell its shares in arms trader Cobham plc. For more detailed criticism of the policy please click
here for the latest article in the Cheesegrater.

Please check this blog in future. We will post more details about the ethical investment policy and about the Cobham shares as soon as we know them.

In the meantime: GO OUT AND CELEBRATE !

A Farewell To Arms?

2008-12-20T12:40:00.003Z

Here is the latest article on Disarm UCL in the Cheesegrater:

UCL is due to launch its ethical investment policy in January but the Provost shouldn’t be patting himself on the back just yet

THE LAST WEEK of November was Ethical Investment Week at UCL. In a panel
debate, Sir Stephen Wall, Chair of UCL Council, spoke on the progress of ethical investment at
UCL. For Disarm UCL it was another success in their long-running campaign to persuade College to divest its shares in arms companies and adopt a holistic ethical investment policy.

However, the debate also revealed College’s ambiguous stance to the future for ethical investment at UCL. Concerns were raised that College’s new investment policy, due to be launched in January 2009, would only be a weak nod in the direction of ethical investment.

No blanket ban

Plans are for the assessment of investments on a case-by-case basis, rather than a blanket ban
on investments in arms companies. Although it seems likely that such a policy would mean
UCL divests its notorious shares in Cobham plc (see Cheese Grater issue 12), there would be nothing to stop similar investments being made in the future.

In March Provost Malcolm Grant admitted that it was necessary to extend UCL’s current
guidelines on socially responsible investment which so far only explicitly bans investment
in tobacco companies. The Provost proposed that UCL adopt the ‘Oxford model’ by setting
up a separate ‘Ethical Investment Review Committee’ to take responsibility for the issue.

According to minutes from College Council the parameters for investment set by this committee
might be either ‘negative’ (advising the avoidance of investments in particular areas) or ‘positive’ (advising the active seeking of opportunities to invest in areas seen as concordant with UCL’s mission).

No say for students

There has still been no formal consultation with students, surprising considering the vocal
nature of the student-led Disarm UCL campaign. After pressure from campaigners to investigate the possibilities of ethical investment, a report was produced last year by UCL alumnus Mr Edwin Glasgow QC and Sir Stephen Wall, advising the Provost on UCL’s future investment policy. However this report has been labelled confidential and remains
unavailable to students. Disarm UCL are sceptical about the effectivness of the ‘Ethical Investment Review Committee’.

The committee consists of two lay members, two academic staff and one student.
Disarm UCL and Amnesty International are pressing for equal student representation
which seems appropriate since the committee was established in response to long-term pressure from students. The activities of the EIRC are strangely secretive and it is unclear whether they
have met at all since being established early this year. The committee certainly did not report
to College Council in June, as it was mandated to do in March. Even if the committee does exist,
there is currently no student representation at all as the Sabbs confirmed that they hadn’t decided who would be appropriate, although the job it is likely to fall under the remit of the Environment and Ethics Officer. Education officer Ed Steward has said it would unlikely that the EIRC would be an open committee and according to its terms of
reference it is only mandated to meet twice a year.

Bureaucracy the enemy of action, eh?

Disarm UCL have repeatedly pointed to evidence that suggests ethical investment is not
only equally but more profitable than investments without ethical criteria. UCL has admitted that there may even be a financial penalty for continuing investment in companies that alienate
staff and students. According to a recent report by the UN and Mercer, ethical investment does
not bring a performance penalty and as well as offering companies a moral high ground they
also bring in profitable returns. While college continues to sit on the fence, shares in Cobham plc have been continuously pumping cash into the development of weapons and defence
systems. Rather than seizing the chance to be a true ‘global leader’, by delaying the decision UCL is now lagging far behind divestment at Oxford and Cambridge, whose arms shares the Provost once used to justify UCL’s. The change of policy in January could alter this if College not only divests its arms shares but adopts a holistic ethical investment policy that actively seeks out companies in accordance with UCL ‘global mission’.

Contributors: Christina Ravinet, Jenni Hulse, Sam Steddy, Gareth Spencer, Alex Ashman, Mark Hoffman, Ka Bradley, Toby Youell,
George Starling, George Potts,Thomas Rhoades, Adam Gillet, Katherine Harrison. Special Thanks to Josh Worth.

Ethical Investment campaign week: great success !

2008-12-01T18:38:00.005Z

The ethical investment campaign week last week was a great success.

Members of UCLU People and Planet society had a stall every day at lunchtime in the Union with loads of free food and cheap fair tade drinks. It was a great success and a good opportunity for students to find out more about ethical investment and to share their views. Thanks so much to everyone who helped to organize the stall. Fantastic work !

Members of UCLU Amnesty International Society used their weekly letter writing session to write to the Provost regarding ethical investment (ei) at UCL. Their core demands included: equal student representation on any future ei review committee, the ei policy to be made public, exclusion of all investment in arms companies and also the possibility of positive investments. Thanks to everyone for writing a letter. If you would like to write one, too - please get in touch: info@disarmucl.com

The highlight of the week was the expert panel debate on Tuesday night. We had a great turn out of UCL students and alumni and pretty much filled up the whole lecture theatre. Thanks so much for coming everyone.

We had some really inspiring people on the panel and it was great to discuss ethical investment in general and at UCL in particular. The debate was very lively and there were quite a few different points of view and suggestions. Thank you in particular to Sir Stephen Wall, Chair of UCL Council, for coming and letting us know about the progress of ethical investment at UCL. Sir Stephen acknowledged that UCL's move towards ethical investment had been driven forward by student campaigning and that UCL hopes to present an ethical investment policy in January 2009. The debate continued afterwards at a wine reception in the Economics department.

After the event, Isabel Kwok from Triodos bank, one of the experts on the panel, wrote to us saying: "Thank you (..) to everyone at UCL for welcoming me to take part in such an interesting debate. It really hardly scratched the surface of some very pertinent issues but its so pleasing to see such a strong turn out."

After the event many of the UCL alumni present decided to have another letter writing campaign to the Provost to ensure that ethical investment at UCL is a postive step forward and excludes arms investments. If you are a UCL alumni and would like to get involved please contact our coordinator Dan - info@disarmucl.com

Thanks again to everyone who helped to make last week such a success ! You are all fantastic !

Ethical Investment - more than just a bandwagon?

2008-11-09T14:14:00.007Z

As part of UCL Union EI campaign week we would like to warmly invite you to our expert panel discussion on ethical investment at the UCL economics department.

Ethical Investment - more than just a bandwagon?

The ethical investment (EI) sector has surged in recent years, with a growing number of companies clamouring to display their ethical and green credentials. Will this trend survive the economic downturn? How effective are the different EI approaches? What could UCL's future ethical investment policy look like? What difficulties arise from trying to balance ethical and commerical considerations? And how much of all this is rhetoric?

Join our expert panel for a discussion to explore these questions
We are very fortunate to have secured a distinguished panel of experts:

Sir Stephen Wall (Chair of UCL Council); John Ditchfield (Company Director, Barchester Green Investments); Jack Taylor (Ecology Building Society); Isabel Kwok (Triodos Bank); Ruth Tanner (Campaigns and Policy Director, War on Want)

Tuesday, 25 November 2008 6.15 - 8 pm
at the Drayton Ricardo Lecture Theatre, UCL Economics department

The discussion will be followed by a wine reception.

Everyone welcome but please arrive early to secure your place.

Sign up for the event on facebook.

Great to meet you all !

2008-11-09T14:09:00.004Z

Just quickly to say the CAAT National Gathering went really well yesterday. We went to the universities network workshop and it was really inspiring to meet all the other students who campaign for ethical investment and against their unis involvement with the arms trade all over the UK.

Thanks for coming everyone. Great to meet you all !

More on CAATs universities network here.

Clean Investment - New Shareholding Data Released for 2008

2008-11-06T16:35:00.003Z

New shareholding figures for 2008 have been obtained by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) for around one hundred higher education institutions in the UK, including all Russell Group members without an Ethical Investment Policy in place and 90% of Oxbridge colleges.

Here's the arms investments data for UCL from June 2008:

£869,825 invested in Cobham plc

Total Assets Invested (all shares): £92.3m
Arms shares as % of total investments: 0.9

Click here for more info on other London colleges

UCL students will attend a universities network workshop at the CAAT National Gathering in London this Saturday. We'll meet with ethical investment campaigners from other UK universities and plan the next ethical investment action day.

EI week planning meeting

2008-10-26T22:39:00.003Z

Joining fortnight is over. But EI week is less than a month away! Please make the meeting to organise for it if you can - 5pm this Tuesday, in the CSC meeting room in the Bloomsbury building.

We will be planning events and activities for the week starting 24th November, and assessing the direction future campaigning should take. If you haven't been involved before, don't be shy! Those who are interested but can't make the meeting, please send us an email.

see you Tuesday!

Tomorrow's meeting location

2008-09-30T11:37:00.001Z

Sorry for the short notice! The room is Cruciform Foyer Seminar Room 1. That's tomorrow at 5, in the Cruciform Building on Gower St.

Meeting 5pm Wednesday 1st

2008-09-28T17:30:00.002Z

Thanks to all of you who visited our stall at Freshers' Fayre! Hopefully we will see some of you at our first meeting of the academic year.

Though a lot of progress has been made last year, with UCL making moves to set up an Ethical Investment policy, we are not there yet! Come to the first meeting (room shortly to be confirmed) to find out how to get involved. Those who want to know more about the issues surrounding Ethical Investment are also welcome – come with any questions you want to ask. After a brief introduction and discussion we will start thinking about where the campaign should go from here, including a brainstorming for the Ethical Investment week in November.

Meeting at 5pm Wednesday 1st October – there will be refreshments (vegetarians and vegans catered for!)

Workshop on ethical investment campaigning at People and Planet summer gathering

2008-06-09T07:55:00.006Z

Here's a message from UCLU People and Planet Society:

People & Planet will be holding their annual Summer Gathering between Sunday 29th June to Thursday 3rd July – four days of discussing campaigns, learning new skills, sharing experiences, and generally having fun.

On the agenda is a session on Ethical Investment. This a great chance for ethical investment campaigners up and down the country to discuss the ethical investment student network – a chance for various campaigners to meet face to face and share their ideas and hopefully successes.

We all know that the tide is turning against higher education investment in the arms trade but now is the time to capitalise on the all the recent hard ground work done by ourselves.

Obviously it would be great to have as many people & planet activists join us in the Oxfordshire countryside for the whole event, but if you can only come down for this one session, then there shouldn’t be any problems with that.

Click here for more info or e-mail us at: info@disarmucl.com

TIMES HIGHER: UCL joins moves to cancel investment in arms trade

2008-06-09T06:54:00.004Z

Article about UCL moving towards ethical investment in Times Higher Education !

CLICK HERE TO READ IT

Meeting TODAY @ 3 pm

2008-06-05T07:32:00.004Z

Come along to the last Disarm meeting for this academic year.

It will take place TODAY (Thursday, 5th June) at 3pm in the main room in the CSC (2nd floor, Bloomsbury theatre building).

We'll be planning the next steps for the campaign over the summer and for next year.

Everyone welcome !

It's been an excellent year for the Disarm UCL campaign. Highlights included Disarm UCL campaign week, two fantastic photostunts, extensive media coverage, linking up with other dedicated ethical investment campaigners at other unis and of course meeting Lord Joffe (Nelson Mandelas lawyer), who had some extremely encouraging things to say about our campaign !

We will be following the next UCL Council meeting on 18 June closely and the results of the sub committee for ethical investment, which is due to report at the meeting. Check this blog for details.

Thanks to everyone for your dedication, enthusiasm and creativity this year.

If you want to get involved next year but you can't make todays' meeting - drop us a line:
info@disarmucl.com and/or join us on facebook.

Disarm UCL campaigners win Student Union awards

2008-05-14T15:05:00.001Z

This year not one, not two, but THREE dedicated Disarm UCL campaigners are receiving an award by the UCL Union Social Colours and Arts Awards Committee.

Second year undergrad Craig Griffiths (UCLU People and Planet Society) will be awarded the Social Colours award and MA student Ed Hood (UCLU Stop the War Society) and PhD student Sara Hall will both receive the centenerary award.

CONGRATULATIONS ! WELL DONE !

Awards are given to students, who have made an outstanding contribution to the UCL community. The award ceremony will take place on 28 May.
We at Disarm UCL are delighted that three of our members are receiving the awards. We believe that everyone involved in the Disarm UCL campaign deserves an award for an outstanding contribution to the UCL community: getting our university to move towards an ethical investment policy !

CONGRATULATIONS ! WELL DONE EVERYONE !

We will of course continue to campaign for UCL to ditch the shares in arms company Cobham, for UCL to adopt a meaningful ethical investment policy and for student and alumni representation on any committee dealing with the question of ethical investment at our university.

Join us !

Disarm UCL students and alumni on facebook !

To be added to our mailing list please drop us a line: info@disarmucl.com

UCL Council sets up a sub-committee on ethical investment

2008-03-20T00:33:00.007Z

Dominique Fourniol, Head of Media Relations at UCL released the following information regarding the UCL Council discussion on ethical investment last week:

'At its meeting on 13 March, UCL Council received the report of a review, commissioned by the Provost, of UCL's approach to ethical standards in investment selection. Council agreed that, in the light of this review, UCL should further develop its socially responsible investment (SRI) policy - and is setting up a sub-committee of Council to take this work forward. The sub-committee is charged to submit to the next Council meeting in June specific proposals for the further development and implementation of SRI policy at UCL.'

We congratulate UCL Council on taking steps towards ethical investment.

WE CALL ON UCL COUNCIL TO GIVE STUDENTS AND ALUMNI A FORMAL CONSULTATIVE ROLE IN DEVELOPING THE ETHICAL INVESTMENT POLICY !

MEETING TODAY @ 6 pm and END OF TERM DRINKS

2008-03-17T09:59:00.004Z

We'll be meeting today at 6 pm in the CSC meeting room to discuss the decision of UCL Council to delay the adoption of an ethical investment policy and plan the next steps for the campaign.

Two anti-arms trade/ethical investment campaigners from Warwick university will be at the meeting as well and share their experiences about the National Day of Action for ethical investment at Warwick university.

EVERYONE WELCOME !

Afterwards we'll be going out for END OF TERM DRINKS in the Union Bar. It's been a really good term of dedicated campaigning to Disarm UCL and everyone deserves a celebration :) - and it's Jen's 21st today so we have even more reason to celebrate :) Happy Birthday, Jen !

UCL Council hestitates again to come clean on investment

2008-03-15T11:28:00.004Z

Yesterday we received the following information from Jim Hunkin, who was present at the UCL Council meeting as Acting Finance and Administration Officer of UCL Student Union.

"The proposal that UCL has an ethical investment policy was indeed discussed at the UCL Council meeting yesterday. The committee took the view that the investment policy was a very complicated issue and thus decided that there needs to be more consideration before a decision can be reached. That’s pretty much what they agreed!"

The Disarm UCL campaign calls on UCL Council to adopt an ethical investment policy swilftly and give students and alumni a formal consultative role in the process.

WE ALSO CALL ON UCL COUNCIL TO DITCH THE ARMS SHARES IMMIDIATELY !

Since the UCL Council meeting Jim Hunkin has been suspended by the UCL Union Sabbatical Officers, following a motion of no confidence.

Report on ethical investment to be presented to UCL Council tomorrow

2008-03-11T19:55:00.004Z

Andrew Fernando, Education and Welfare Officer at UCL Student Union confirmed to me today on the phone that he believes that Edwin Glasgow will present his report on ethical investment at UCL to the UCL Council tomorrow.

We will post news on this here - so keep checking this site

The proposal at UCL comes weeks after Oxford University has published a "Report of the Working Group set up to consider the implementation of a Socially Responsible Investment Policy." Contact us at info@disarmucl.com for a copy of the Oxford report.

The Disarm UCL campaign and UCL Union call on the UCL Council to:

IMMEDIATELY DIVEST FROM ARMS TRADER COBHAM PLC
make the timetable for developing an ethical investment policy clear and publicly available
give a formal consultative role for students and alumni in the process of developing and monitoring an ethical investment policy for UCL

Arms dealers in the quad ! UCL students protest UCL's investment in arms trader Cobham

2008-02-27T15:46:00.006Z

Just a quick one to say that the Disarm UCL protest in the quad went really well today. We dressed up as arms dealers and tried to sell toy guns and missiles to everyone around in the quad. Our opening line "Can we interest you in any missile components today ?" made people stop and talk to us about the ongoing arms investments.

The vast majority of students were outraged by the arms investments and signed our petition.

There were also many prospective students in the quad having a look round their future university. We talked to them about the arms investment. The future students were shocked to learn that UCL invests in the international arms trade.

One prospective student I spoke to told me: "This is outrageous. I will not let the arms investments stop me from coming to UCL. I want to join you to make sure UCL adopts an ethical investment policy."

Our protest today was part of a national action day for ethical investment. Students at seven other universities across the country also protested against the dirty investments of their unis.

I've just spoken to Barnaby Pace, a third year mechanical engineering student at Warwick on the phone: "It is really inspiring to be part of this national movement for ethical investment at UK universities" he told me. "Like you guys at UCL we also dressed up as arms dealers today. We got a lot of positive responses from students and staff. Most people believe that the international arms trade should have no place in a university. "

Well done to everyone at UCL and around the country who took part in the action day. It really is time for UCL and the other unis to come clean on investment !

The BBC reported about the national action Day.