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Arms fair opens in London amid controversy
A new poll shows most of the British public oppose selling weapons to the despotic regimes at the show, which has also denied access to two journalists
A helicopter outisde the ExCel centre in Canning Town, London, where the DSEI arms fair is being held [Campaign Against the Arms Trade / Creative Commons]

ONE of the world’s largest arms fairs opened in London yesterday, but two journalists were denied access and a new poll showed that most of the public oppose selling weapons to the despotic regimes eager to buy them.

The ExCeL exhibition centre in London’s Docklands was packed with hundreds of arms dealers and military personnel who gathered for the biennial Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI).

Speakers included Tory Minister for Defence Procurement Ann-Marie Trevelyan and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry’s brother-in-law Lieutenant General Richard Nugee.

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