There has been an outraged response to news that the UK has licensed sales of crowd control weapons to regimes that are violently suppressing peaceful protests.
Visitors to the Spirit of Christmas Fair in London have been greeted by Santa Claus warning them that the Fair's owners are involved in the arms trade.
Campaigners have welcomed the government's decision to scrap the controversial Section 44 of the Terrorism Act, which allowed the police to stop and search anyone, without requiring "reasonable suspicion".
Visitors to the Fine Arts Fair this weekend will find an artistic demonstration against the Fair's owners, Clarion Events, who are heavily involved in the arms trade.
The former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, has drawn criticism for making comments supportive of the arms industry. He suggested on BBC television that Britain should be proud of being “particularly good at manufacturing tanks”.
Two members of the Catholic Worker movement, including a priest, have been arrested at the London arms fair. They poured red paint over an entrance sign before kneeling in prayer beneath a banner asking God to forgive arms dealers.
London’s arms fair has opened this morning to a wave of protest and criticism. Protestors have demonstrated both outside the fair and at the offices of UKTI, the government unit through which the arms fair is subsidised.