Edinburgh council reject call for ban on Braid Hills weapons testing

Edinburgh Live

06-06-2025

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An Edinburgh councillor has spoken out after a city committee voted not to ban arms firms from testing military equipment in city parks.
In December 2024, arms manufacturer Leonardo was given permission to test communications equipment in the Braid Hills.
Green councillor Ben Parker said he was 'disappointed' that councillors chose to not back his motion, which would have seen the practice banned.
He continued: 'Today, Councillors had a chance to stand up for peace and instead chose inaction.
'Despite community objections and a clear moral imperative, the Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties have voted to continue to allow arms manufacturers to test their equipment in our beautiful, publicly owned, green spaces.
'The Council has previously taken a strong stance on opposing advertising and sponsorship from arms manufacturers, and it is completely hypocritical to then allow these same companies to use our beautiful public space to test their equipment.
'At a time when we are witnessing the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, we should not be supporting companies who profit from arms sales to the Israeli Government in any way.'
Cllr Parker had originally put the motion forward for discussion at May's full council meeting, but an amendment by the Liberal Democrat group sent it to the Culture and Communities Committee for discussion.
In a deputation to the committee, he urged councillors to take a stand on the issue, drawing comparisons to the city's Labour council taking a stand against apartheid during the 1986 Commonwealth Games held in the city.
That year's games were protested widely, and boycotted by 26 nations, due to the UK Government's relationship with the then white-minority government in South Africa.
Liberal Democrat councillor Fiona Bennett said: 'I have been to Iraq twice, once in 2018 with an NGO I'm very closely involved with and again in 2019 with the UN supporting victims of ISIS.
'I saw first-hand devastation throughout northern Iraq and in particular in Mosul – images that will never leave me, and images that will haunt me, for the rest of my life.
'The events unfolding around the world right now are harrowing. And I know people on the ground in Gaza right now, I can't bear what they're telling me.
'This is incredibly difficult, we're being forced to confront balancing our ethical values and responsibilities with the very real fragility of our national security.
'This is the most fragile and uncertain political, global landscape in my lifetime, and I really worry about the future our daughters have in front of them.
'So when we talk about banning testing, are we saying there should be no such testing anywhere in the UK?
'And if so, are we inadvertently undermining our own ability to defend ourselves at a time when global threats are growing and becoming even more complex?'
Councillors narrowly supported an amended version of the motion put forward by the Liberal Democrat group, which did not pursue a ban.
Instead, it referenced the city's draft parks management plan, which empowers council officers to ban any activity which will or could 'endanger' any person or property.