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Edinburgh University ends funding for US drone component maker
Source: The Guardian
Edinburgh University ends funding for US drone component maker
Investment in defence company Ultra Electronics to be withdrawn
after pressure from students and campaigners
Rob Edwards
theguardian.com, Sunday 29 September 2013 17.14 BST
A leading UK university is ending its £1.2m investment in a defence company that makes components for lethal US drones because it says the business is not "socially responsible".
The University of Edinburgh has bowed to pressure from students and campaign groups and is withdrawing funding from Ultra Electronics. The company, headquartered at Greenford in Middlesex, makes navigation controls for the US fleet of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles.
Armed with Hellfire missiles, they are sent on covert "targeted killing" missions against suspected terrorist cells in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. But according to the Bureau for Investigative Journalism at City University in London, more than 430 strikes since 2002 have killed at least 428 civilians, of whom 173 were children.
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Investment in defence company Ultra Electronics to be withdrawn
after pressure from students and campaigners
Rob Edwards
theguardian.com, Sunday 29 September 2013 17.14 BST
A leading UK university is ending its £1.2m investment in a defence company that makes components for lethal US drones because it says the business is not "socially responsible".
The University of Edinburgh has bowed to pressure from students and campaign groups and is withdrawing funding from Ultra Electronics. The company, headquartered at Greenford in Middlesex, makes navigation controls for the US fleet of Predator and Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles.
Armed with Hellfire missiles, they are sent on covert "targeted killing" missions against suspected terrorist cells in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. But according to the Bureau for Investigative Journalism at City University in London, more than 430 strikes since 2002 have killed at least 428 civilians, of whom 173 were children.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/sep/29/edinburgh-university-ends-funding-drone