BBC Trust vice-chair criticised over role in defence company
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/24/bbc-trust-vice-chair-sir-roger-carr-bae-systems
Campaigners say Sir Roger Carr should be ousted
from corporation’s governing body due to his chairmanship of BAE Systems
<http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/24/bbc-trust-vice-chair-sir-roger-carr-bae-systems#img-1>
BBC Trust vice-chairman Sir Roger Carr has been criticised over
<http://www.theguardian.com/profile/rob-edwards>Rob
Edwards - Friday 24 April 2015 11.40 BST
The head of a £16bn defence company accused of
arming dictatorships should be ousted from the
governing body of the
<http://www.theguardian.com/media/bbc>BBC, say campaigners.
Sir Roger Carr, chairman of Europe’s biggest arms
dealer,
<http://www.theguardian.com/business/baesystems>BAE
Systems, is due to start work as vice-chairman of
the BBC Trust on 1 May. But a campaign has been
launched to get him sacked because of fears that
he could influence BBC coverage of the arms trade.
<https://www.caat.org.uk/get-involved/act-now/petition/bbc>A
petition demanding his dismissal has been signed
by more than 5,500 people, and is due to be
handed in to BBC Broadcasting House in London on
30 April. “Arms industry executives have no place
in public service broadcasting,” it says.
BAE Systems has sold weapons to Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Libya, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,
which have all been criticised for poor records
on human rights. Saudi Arabia has reportedly used
the company’s Eurofighters in recent attacks on Yemen.
“BAE Systems has made its money through arming
dictatorships and human rights abusers around the
world,” said Andrew Smith from Campaign Against
Arms Trade, which is organising the petition.
“Carr is the public face of the company and is
the last person who should be given the
legitimacy of a role at the heart of public
broadcasting. Not only does his appointment send
out a terrible message, it also raises serious
concerns about how the appointment might impact
on the BBC’s coverage of the arms trade.”
Carr was appointed to the
<http://www.theguardian.com/media/bbc-trust>BBC
Trust post, which pays £70,610 a year, for four
years by ministers. He is a member of David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group.
As chairman of BAE Systems he earns £650,000 a
year. He has previously chaired Thames Water,
Cadbury and Centrica, and been deputy chairman of
the Bank of England as well as a past president of the CBI......
Europe’s biggest arms firm BAE takes on failing academy
John Dickens | Apr 24, 2015
http://schoolsweek.co.uk/europes-biggest-arms-firm-takes-on-failing-academy/
- Furness Academy in special measures since March 2012
– Campaigners uneasy about curriculum changes ’to suit needs’
The government has chosen an arms manufacturer as
its preferred sponsor to turn around a failing academy in the north of England.
BAE Systems – Europe’s biggest arms company,
turning over £15.4bn last year – is set to take
over Furness Academy in Barrow, Cumbria, in September.
It has set up a trust to run the school under its
submarine-building arm, which is based in the town.
The company will build new nuclear-powered
ballistic missile submarines, should the UK’s
Trident programme get the go-ahead next year.
BAE Systems Marine Submarines Academy Trust will
be tasked with turning around the troubled school
that has been in special measures since March 2012.
Despite a subsequent Ofsted inspection in May
2013 and five monitoring visits, inspectors say
it is still not improving enough.
Tony Johns, the managing director of BAE Systems
Submarines, said in a statement: “We have for a
long time supported local education at primary,
secondary and college level, and see this
positive step as an extension to our commitment
in helping Furness Academy provide its students
with the best possible education.”
The trust is now going through due diligence
before a consultation with stakeholders, parents
and staff. It is expected that a funding
agreement will be signed ready for the trust to take over in September.
If agreed, the trust will become the academy’s
sole sponsor, taking over from the University of
Cumbria, Furness College and Barrow Sixth Form
College, and will provide “strategic direction”
in areas including leadership, business management and back office expertise.
A spokesperson said the company could not provide
further details of the sponsorship while it was in due diligence.
Campaigners are uneasy at a school being run by a
company that “profits from selling arms to some
of the world’s most oppressive dictators”.
Sam Robinson, university coordinator for the
Campaign against Arms Trade, said: “The idea
[BAE] could soon be playing a significant role in
running one of our schools is deeply worrying.
“It . . . gives them direct access to potential
future employees and often allows them to
influence the curriculum to suit their employment needs.”
BAE said it did not want to respond to the
comments but Mallen Baker a writer, speaker and
strategic adviser for corporate social
responsibility, said it was a popular concept for
companies to invest in the education of their local community.
“Employers recognise that the quality of local
recruits is influenced hugely by their quality of
education,” he told Schools Week. “Companies that
invest in the local community will also get higher loyalty rates.
“With BAE there is an additional factor – they
deal with a controversial product.
A Successor submarine which is being developed at
BAE’s Barrow site and could hold the UK’s Trident
nuclear missiles if the programme gets the go ahead
“But armament is essential for the defence of the
country and we believe in the right for our countries to defend themselves.
“There are no reasons why it shouldn’t be able to
show itself as a good citizen as other companies
do. The only people to make that decision are the
school and the local community.”
Barrow-in-Furness Labour MP John Woodcock said
the takeover was “really exciting” news for the
town. Anne Attwood, chief executive of current
sponsor Furness College, has also been reported
as saying having BAE as its sole sponsor will be
good for the students and community.
The Guardian reported in 2007 that BAE, while
under investigation after allegations of
corruption, had offered £400,000 to sponsor the academy.
While it did not go on to be a sponsor, the
academy’s annual accounts show BAE makes an
annual donation, which could be as much as £40,000.
Ted Creighton, chair of governors, told parents
of the sponsorship switch in a letter last week.
Mr Creighton, who is also BAE’s head of learning
and organisation development, said no one from
the school was available to comment because
Ofsted inspectors were visiting this week.
New UTCs also linked with arms firms
A number of university technical colleges (UTCs)
set to open in September have also partnered with military and arms firms.
BAE is listed as a partner at Humber UTC, in
Scunthorpe, where it will work to design and deliver projects for students.
The arms firm is also one of the partner
companies at Medway UTC, in Chatham, Kent, which
will specialise in construction and engineering.
Medway’s website says that BAE will support the
design of its curriculum and be involved in governance.
South Wiltshire UTC, which specialises in science
and engineering, will open in Salisbury in
September. Its supporters include QinetiQ, which
provides defence technology, and Chemring, which
makes munitions, including explosives and tear gas.
Guidance for UTC sponsors state that they can
help construct the curriculum to reflect the
needs of their particular sector and build close
links with students who will be potential employees.
Rolls-Royce, which reportedly made $5.6bn from
arms sales in 2012-13, is a co-sponsor of the
Cabot Learning Federation, alongside the
University of the West of England. They sponsor
12 academies in the south west of England.
Editor’s Comment
While the election campaign rages on, schools are
mostly getting back to business after the Easter
break. Exam deadlines loom, as do summer fetes, school trips and summer plays.
For some school leaders, decisions must be made
now that affect their school’s future.
Take Furness Academy, featured on the cover, and
currently in the process of transferring to the
sponsorship of BAE. The school has struggled for
a long time. BAE is offering strategic support
and a fresh start. It is a business embedded
within the community. On the other hand, it
creates objects that are instruments of war.
Which aspect wins out? Which ought to?
In Telford, four schools are being transferred
from one sponsor to another, while AET – the
largest academy chain in England – has shed eight schools.
Each process of change involves nervous
questions: Must we rename the school? What about
the uniforms? Will all staff keep their jobs?
This emerging ‘transfer market’ in schools is
both exciting and deeply challenging. Exciting
because it gives poorly performing schools a shot
at future success. Challenging because questions
will always arise about the ‘appropriateness’ of sponsors and their plans.
The election is indeed important but these
future-changing decisions are crucial too, that’s
why we will keep covering them along with the campaign highlights, too.
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Please consider seriously the reason why these elite institutions are not discussed in the mainstream press despite the immense financial and political power they wield?
There are sick and evil occultists running the Western World. They are power mad lunatics like something from a kids cartoon with their fingers on the nuclear button! Armageddon is closer than you thought. Only God can save our souls from their clutches, at least that's my considered opinion - Tony
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Please consider seriously the reason why these elite institutions are not discussed in the mainstream press despite the immense financial and political power they wield?
There are sick and evil occultists running the Western World. They are power mad lunatics like something from a kids cartoon with their fingers on the nuclear button! Armageddon is closer than you thought. Only God can save our souls from their clutches, at least that's my considered opinion - Tony
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