8th July 2008 updated 13th July 2008

Elinor Croxall, Coordinator of Stroud District Green party has called for an end to the Fairford Tattoo. This seems to have been answered by the cancellation of both Saturday and Sunday of the Air Show apparently due to the weather.

The world's largest military Air Show, the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford (RIAT) is sponsored by Britain's biggest arms company, BAE Systems. Apart from showcasing weapons in all their 'glory' it is ultimately about selling and making them more acceptable.

There is indeed a thrill to see aircraft fly at such high speeds, but we should think hard when we see these killing machines while so many still suffer their effects. Some of the planes, have been used to help drop thousands of tons of cluster bombs and depleted uranium shells killing many Iraqis. Is this really family entertainment while people continue to suffer and die from the illegal, unnecessary and immoral war in Iraq?

On top of that the Fairford Air Tattoo will also result in many thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions from the planes, plus a significant contribution from all the unnecessary road traffic that an event of this size generates. This single event will cancel out the valiant attempts that many tens of thousands of people have made across the county to reduce their emissions.

We must start to tackle the root causes of conflict. We fund one dictator after the other to keep our 'defence' industries solvent and it is our CO2 emissions that are and will increasingly hit millions of the worlds poorest leading to increased tensions and conflict. Already some have dubbed Sudan as the first climate change conflict.

There are many events promoting our rooted relationship with the earth and each other, not to something inherently destructive. These are a truly positive entertainment and productive way forward. Let this Fairford be the last.

Yours,

Elinor Croxall, Coordinator of Stroud District Green party

PS The Green party are aware of several other protests against Fairford including concerns raised by a local Friends of the Earth group and local Plane Stupid campaigner - see here.