As ‘census day’ looms closer, many people still don’t know about Lockheed Martin’s involvement in the census. Join in the national day of action on Saturday 19 March and help spread the word about how the government’s paid an arms company to help run the 2011 census.
There are many ways to take action such as:
– Leaflet in your town centre, at local events and markets. You can download a template leaflet here.
– Organise an action outside town halls or Lockheed Martin’s offices to engage passers-by such as this one. You can have people dressed as arms dealers and others as people filling out their censuses.
– Print off placards and get your friends to take photos with statements of why they object to Lockheed Martin’s involvement. Upload the photos and send them to info@countmeout.me.uk. You can download example placards here.
– Organise a census party. The suffragettes used to organise tea parties on ‘census day’ so that they’d all be out the house when the census collectors came round. You could hold a themed party and let everyone coming know about Lockheed Martin and the census.
Don’t forget to write to your local paper and let them know what you’re planning.
Comment on this blog post to let us know what you’ve planned.
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Lockheed Martin are best known for producing cluster munitions, Britain’s Trident nuclear system and selling weapons to Bahrain and F-16s to Israel.
By paying Lockheed Martin UK to help run the census, taxpayers’ money is being used to fund an industry that profits from conflict and war.
Gwyn and I have returned the census envelope un opened with the following statement on the back.
“We are not willing to complete the 2011 census unless the data is not processed by present contractor Lockheed Martin, one of the largest arms producers in the world. We oppose all arms sales and do not wish to co-operate with or contribute to the profit making work of an arms manufacturer. Lockheed Martin makes and sells nuclear weapons including the Trident missiles for both the UK and US nuclear weapons systems. It is the lead contractor running the Atomic Weapons Establishment which both maintains the nuclear warheads and is developing a new nuclear weapons system. It makes and sells cluster bombs. The use of both types of weapon is illegal as well being immoral.
We cannot allow our personal data to be processed by a US based company which carries out surveillance and data processing for the CIA and the FBI. Under the US Patriot Act the US Government can require access to the data held by a US Company. Lockheed Martin also provided interrogators for people detained outside the law at Guantanamo Bay.
We recognise the value of past censuses for planning needed public services. This census will however not be reliable because some people will be deterred from completing if the data will be processed by Lockheed Martin. It is also likely that the people most in need of decent public services and equal respect will be undercounted. Gwyneth M. Gwyntopher, BA Sociology, CQSW, MA Social Services Planning.
Christopher C. H. Gwyntopher, BA Sociology, CQSW, MSc. Social Policy and Planning. European MA in Migration and Mental Health.
LEAFLET. Thanks to whoever designed the leaflet. It says what needs to be said in a readable format. I hope you do not mind I have reduced it to A5. This is because I find A5 leaflets are easier to give out and more likely to be read. They also use up half as many trees as A4. I will attempt to paste the result below. I have used your graphic of the fighter aircraft and your logo at the top and bottom. They dont seem to have copied. The layout is much the same as yours. In order to fit most of the text in in I have cut one paragraph out. Its the one about lending credibility to Lockheed Martin. It is not essential to the case. Some of the people I have discussed the Census with take the contrary view that Lockheed Martin should be encouraged to do something really usefull instead of making weapons.
” The government has paid
Lockheed Martin, the
world’s second biggest
arms company £150
million of public money to
help run the census.
We can’t let this go
unnoticed!
“When the government’s using the census to support a company which profits from war, you can count me out!”
Lizzy Brooks -23
http://www.countmeout.me.uk
One of the world’s largest arms companies is helping to run this
year’s census…
In 2008, the government awarded Lockheed Martin UK a
£150 million contract to help run the data processing for the
2011 census.
Lockheed Martin, are known for producing cluster munitions,
Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons and have also sold weapons to
Bahrain, who are currently undergoing a wave of protest against
its repressive regime.
Our government shouldn’t be paying an arms company, which
fuels conflict and war, huge amounts of money to help run the
census.
From boycotts to census parties to writing to the Office of
National Statistics and MPs, people and groups across the UK will
be taking action against the 2011 census.
Join us…
http://www.countmeout.me.uk
info@countmeout.me.uk
Facebook: count me out
Twitter: @countme_out”