MP slams arms trade as pensions invested in weapons

A Lockheed Martin-made ballistic missile. Local public sector pensions are invested in the company through a pension fund administered by authority of the Executive.
Local MP Mark Durkan has backed a new UN Arms Trade Treaty. — A Lockheed Martin-made ballistic missile. Local public sector pensions are invested in the company through a pension fund administered by authority of the Executive. Local MP Mark Durkan has backed a new UN Arms Trade Treaty.

The Londonderry MP, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group, last year tabled a parliamentary motion at Westminster calling for strong protections in the Treaty to prevent weapons being supplied to countries where there is a risk they would contribute to human rights abuses, atrocities or repression.

He said: “Every single day 1500 people are killed worldwide as a result of armed violence - the equivalent of more than the population of Derry every three months.

“These deaths are not inevitable - and have been the tragic consequence of an arms trade which has been out of control.”

In 2011 the Sentinel first reported how local public sector workers’ pension contributions have been used to invest in nuclear weapons, tobacco, alcohol, bookies, oil and US arms firms including Raytheon.

Many local council workers, alongside staff at Ilex, WELB, NIHE, Magee, City of Derry Airport, NWRC, Ulsterbus and some local schools are contributing to a Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC) pension fund.

The Minister currently responsible for appointments to the NILGOSC Committee is SDLP Local Government Minister Alex Attwood.

NILGOSC is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body, which manages the Local Government Pension Scheme for Northern Ireland.

Mr Attwood most recently announced two new appointments to the NILGOSC board last June.

Back in 2011 the Sentinel revealed that investment managers Baillie Gifford and Wellington Management had invested in Raytheon (£460,070; 14,500 shares) on NILGOSC’s behalf.

The NI workers’ pension pot had also been poured into Honeywell International (£808,326.52; 21,700 shares) which tests, develops and stockpiles nuclear bombs at the Pantex Plant in Texas, for the US National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); and Lockheed Martin (£536,551.98; 10,700 shares) which makes submarine launched ballistic missiles amongst other military hardware products.

NILGOSC Chief Executive and Secretary David Murphy told the Sentinel at the time that as a body it cannot exclude any type of investment for moral reasons.

He said it was “legally prevented from excluding any type of company for ethical reasons. This is not unusual as this law applies to all general pension funds.”