In a statement on August 06, 2025, a spokesperson for Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive), Sinn Féin Poblachtach said: “The establishment fawning by ex-British militarists on behalf of multi-national arms companies to gain an advantage over the competition has again hit the headlines.

“Richard Dannatt, the ex-chief of the British army, has never been far away from controversy although he would also have people believe that he is free from any conflicts of interest and lobbying practices. On August 5 the Guardian newspaper reported that Danatt wrote privately to two separate British Home Office ministers asking them to address the threat posed by the group Palestine Action after its activists targeted a factory in 2022. The factory in question was Teledyne, a US multinational defence company in Wales, that sells technology for military, aerospace and other applications.

“The British public have had major concerns about the murkiness and a revolving door culture between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and private arms companies. This goes back as far as 2012, when Dannatt and other ex-military top brass were secretly filmed over a three-month period offering to use their contacts and boasting about lobbying to win multi-million-pound defence deals for arms firms in breach of so-called official rules.

“The 2012 Sunday Times investigation is on public record. This entailed a recording of Lieutenant-General Sir John Kiszely, Lieutenant-General Richard Applegate and Admiral Sir Trevor Soar asking for six-figure sums.

“Sinn Féin Poblachtach have always said that there has been a culture of self-entitlement in British establishment figures. They pursue personal gain while they maintain that they have the best interests of the services at heart. In addition, there will always be a soft landing created for those found guilty. This is described as challenges of balancing military leadership with public and political scrutiny.”

PRO
Comhairle Uladh (Ulster Executive),
Sinn Féin Poblachtach
CRÍOCH/ENDS

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