‘Full circle – from weapons to war to refugees’, the well-attended joint action of No Borders Nottingham with Shut Down Heckler & Koch in Nottingham’s Market Square has already inspired a cover story in the Brighton-based Schnews bulletin. Now it has been picked up by an anti-arms-trade organisation called the RüstungsInformationsBüro (RIB) who are based in the German city of Freiburg. The Full Circle diagram is being displayed in the RIB shop-front as a poster with title ?Tödlicher Kreislauf?, translated as ?Deadly Circle? (click on photos for full size images). The RIB asked if other peace movements and migrant support organisations can also use the Full Circle diagram. We said yes of course.

As part of his 2002 television series, comedian and activist Mark Thomas showed just how easy it is to get HK arms shipped to Zimbabwe during the supposed embargo, a grim example of the reality of Full Circle, since there are many refugees and asylum seekers from there who are seeking sanctuary in Nottingham but are under continual threat of removal. Zimbabwean protesters were amongst those who demonstrated in Nottingham Market Square, and a letter of thanks was also received from the Nottingham Zimbabwe Community Network who related the Full Circle protest to action taken by South African workers who had refused to offload a Chinese arms cache that was destined for Zimbabwe earlier this year.

So, like the global arms industry, our opposition to their ‘making a living out of killing’ is transnational. The question is, whilst anti-H&K demonstrations continue outside offices and depot on Lenton Lane, listed online as NSAF Ltd – Nottingham Small Arms Factory/Facility, when will the city and local press (who seem to be under the thumb of the police by not reporting protests apart from this paltry effort) respond properly to Nottingham’s hosting of a death-dealing company like Heckler and Koch?
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