Making New Markets: ParcAberporth and the commercialisation of drone technology

The western Welsh county of Ceredigion is home to Danger Area D201, a former RAF missile testing ground, now converted into a 22km x 1.5km restricted airspace for the testing of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The area is the embodiment of the tangled relationships existing between corporate, governmental and private commercial interests. A section of the old RAF land is now operated by arms giant QinetiQ; the runway is owned by the same private businessman who runs the local airport; and at the centre of this hub of UAV promotion is the ParcAberporth facility, made possible, and owned by, the Welsh Assembly. (more…)

Morrisons and Waitrose stores taken over by Boycott Israeli Apartheid protesters

A Waitrose in South Woodford, north-east London, unwittingly played host to a group of demonstrators from Waltham Forest Palestine Solidarity Campaign (WFPSC) and Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG) on 7th November. The campaigners were protesting against Waitrose’s policy of stocking illegal settlement produce. After Waitrose, protesters emerged at Morrisons Read more…