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From UK Guardian Thursday 22nd February 2001 Guardian website: Arms investors named and shamed Charities, NHS trusts, trade unions and Labour party among organisations accused of compromising ethical principles by Diane Taylor & Richard Norton-Taylor Charities, NHS trusts, trade unions and the labour party are still holding millions of pounds in arms company shares despite pressure to invest ethically, a new report reveals today. Campaign Against Arms Trade, which conducts an annual survey to find out which organisations hold shares in the UK's biggest arms companies, has found that some of the largest share holdings come from organisations, including the Co-op, which publicly promotes ethical policies. Organisations whose holdings are likely to cause embarrassment for their supporters include the Leukaemia Research Fund, a charity with more than 200 research teams. It has 10,000 shares in BAE Systems, Britain's biggest arms company. It manufactures shells tipped with depleted uranium which have been linked to leukaemia and other cancers. Depleted uranium shells were used by US aircraft in Kosovo and by British and US tanks in the Gulf war. The Labour Party, whose government pledged an ethical dimension to its foreign policy and to work for human rights - and has banned the use of anti-personnel landmines by British troops - has 34,721 shares in BAE Systems. Publicity surrounding organisations committed to ethical trading and found to have shares in arms companies has let to some disinvestment. The red Cross was found to have arms trade shares two years ago and has since disinvested. the Church of England has followed the lead of the Catholic Church in getting rid of its shares in arms companies. A spokesman for the Leukaemia Research Fund said he saw no contradiction in devoting itself to curing leukaemia and investing in a company whose shells are alleged to cause the illness. "BAE Systems is a respected British company. we need to invest widely and wisely and ensure that we get the best returns for our money. BAE Systems are not responsible for what went on in Kosovo" a spokesman said. The position regarding the Co-op is more complicated. there are several individual societies which the Co-op Group says are separate entities and determine their own ethical policies. The Co-op Group owns the Co-op Insurance Society, one of the biggest shareholders surveyed with 21,375,136 shares in BAE systems. But it says CIS is a separate entity despite being owned by the group and makes its own decisions. The Co-op Group holds shares in BAE Systems, Rolls royce and GKN in their pension fund. It is a matter, they say, for their trustees to determine. The labour party's response was similar. A spokesman confirmed that labour's position on investing in the arms trade had not changed since it was "outed" a year ago. "Our pension fund investments are a matter for the pension fund trustees," he said. Crest, the new electronics system for holding shares, means they are often held in undesignated nominee accounts so that it is not possible to trace the beneficial owner by inspecting the company register. The law only requires that a custodian is identified and does not require the identity of the beneficial owner to be publicly available. The campaign is calling for all shares to be held in designated accounts and for one shareholder to be able to request the identity of another to improve transparency and accountability. A campaign spokesperson said: "We know that the majority of people in the UK oppose most arms sales and support ethical investment. despite the annual naming and shaming by CAAT, hundreds of public institutions continue to compromise their own objectives and principles by taking this dirty money." Where the millions are held Charities
Pension Funds
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