On 2 April, nearly 100 activists from around the country demonstrated outside the ‘27th Bristol International UAV [drone] Systems Conference’. With a soundtrack of live punk, several protesters scaled the walls of Armada House, the conference building, to unveil a Palestinian flag.
Seven demonstrators were arrested; one of them for ‘wobbling the glass’ of the conference centre.
Despite the presence of major arms companies, conference organisers denied that military activities were on the agenda, stating: ‘This Conference does not condone the use of these unmanned aircraft systems in a pre-emptive way against possible terrorist targets.’