07/08/2008

St Athan Spin

the reply to a letter to the St Athan Consultation regarding ethical concerns around the role of Raytheon in the Metrix Consortium. (see below). It echos the line of the Welsh media and politicians.

Dear

Thank you for your email regarding Raytheon and its role in the Defence Technical Academy (DTA).

In the first instance, I would like to reassure you that Raytheon does not manufacture cluster bombs or any associated delivery vehicles. Any assertion to the contrary is based on dated information that is no longer correct. In addition, Raytheon has excellent relations with the Norwegian Government and continues to deliver a wide range of products to them, none of which are related to cluster munitions.

In context of the DTA, Raytheon Professional Services, the company’s training arm, will be involved in providing technical training to DTA personnel in aeronautical and electro mechanical engineering and communications/IT disciplines.

Raytheon Professional Services is well practised at delivering training around the world, in both the private and public sectors, and its clients range from NASA to General Motors. I hope this addresses your concerns, but if you have any further questions then please do not hesitate to be in touch using one of the following methods below.

Kind Regards,

Gemma
St Athan Project Public Consultation Services Call: 0845 618 0016

Write to:Camargue Group Ltd, Freepost RRKG-AZTG-JLJX,St Athan Consultation
Eagle Tower,Montpellier Drive,Cheltenham,GL50 1TA

Email:
enquiries@st-athanconsultation.co.uk
Visit: www.st-athanconsultation.co.uk

Companies Excluded from the Investment Universe

...Defence and Space Company) EADS Finance BV General Dynamics Corporation L3 Communications Holdings Inc. Lockheed Martin Corp. Raytheon Co. Thales SA. The press release from the Ministry of Finance The recommendation from the Advisory Council on Ethics

(Ministry of Finance, 03.02.2007)



Recommendation on Exclusion of Cluster Weapons from the Government Petroleum Fund Oslo, 16 June 2005

postmottak@fin.dep.no;

...Corp, L3 Communications Holdings Inc, Raytheon Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Alliant Techsystems...from the Government Petroleum Fund. Raytheon Company produces, according to its own web-site, 3 http://www.raytheon.com/products/stellent/groups/public..

(Ministry of Finance, 02.09.2005)

Norway excludes 3 arms producers from oil fund [Reuters]

Read the recommendation here (pdf)

The Ethical Guidelines List of Excluded Companies

Recommendation on Exclusion of Cluster Weapons from the Government Petroleum Fund- The Advisory Council on Ethics for the Government Petroleum Fund recommends that the companies General Dynamics Corp, L3 Communications Holdings Inc, Raytheon Co, Lockheed Martin Corp, Alliant Techsystems Inc, EADS Co (European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company) and Thales SA be excluded from the Petroleum Fund because they are presumed to be involved in production of cluster weapons.

Serco Group Plc should be kept out of Wales because of its involvement in the production of nuclear weapons.

Why are our politicans not calling for the government to have ethical guidelines for investment like Norway.

Council on Ethics- Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global - Read more here : http://www.regjeringen.no/templates/Kampanje.aspx?id=434879&epslanguage=EN-GB

The role of the Council on Ethics for the Government Pension Fund - Global is to provide evaluation on whether or not investment in specified companies is inconsistent with the established ethical guidelines. The Ministry of Finance makes decisions on the exclusion of companies from the Fund's investment universe based on the Council's recommendations. Both the Ministry's decisions and the Council's recommendations will be made publicly available on this website.

Recommendation on the exclusion of the company Serco Group Plc. The company is recommended for exclusion because of its involvement in the production of nuclear weapons.

As we have been saying for years...Serco - one to watch http://www.aldermaston.net/campaigns/serco_2004.php


No comments: