Over in Wolverhampton, England's Capital of Aerospace, the economy is booming. Local, Carl Galley, assesses the bright side of the arms industry.

Campaigners experienced a rare moment of good news when the government - here's the shock - actually did something praiseworthy. In October, Britain pressed for a treaty to control the arms trade at the UN. They were backed by a large
majority of countries.

Unfortunately, this is only the first step towards a treaty. Negotiations will be slow and it's unlikely to be put to a vote before 2009. It's a frustratingly long wait whilst untold billions are being poured into the war on terror. Well, there's got to be winners somewhere, but the arms industry would never be so tactless to say it. So let's say it for them - it's a fantastic time to be in the arms business! Of course, the companies like to distance themselves from the end use of their products because the arms industry isn't about killing or maiming or any of that unpleasant stuff, oh no; it's about creating wealth and valued engineering jobs: jobs for people
who live near you.

That's how it is here in Wolverhampton, we're doing quite nicely from it, thank you very much. The council proudly states: 'Wolverhampton has the largest cohort of aerospace related companies in the Midland region', including a large number of smaller engineering firms supply parts and back-up
services to the big players too.

With most manufacturing leaching abroad, you can understand why the council wants to hang on to the jobs. Roger Lawrence, the council leader and board member of AWM, explains, 'aerospace provides significant wealth creation and…employment opportunities to the local community'. OK, that's true, but
aren't they worried about the dirtier side of the business: corruption, cosying up to dictators, human rights abuses and aiding repression?

Wolverhampton's companies don't make armaments; they just work on civil aircraft. The involvement of local companies in the
military side of aerospace is not marginal. For example, Smiths Aerospace (currently being taken over by GE-Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric) say, 'our aerospace division is now performing well…Sales of defence equipment were 60% of the total'.

There are currently two massive projects in Wolverhampton. One is the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Three big local companies
are involved in its development: Smiths Aerospace, Goodrich and HS Marston (part of United Technologies Corp). But other countries with more dubious human rights records are also involved in JSF's production, including Turkey and Israel.
The second project is the Eurofighter Typhoon, again Smiths and Goodrich contributed to the plane. This was regarded as a 'legitimate arms project'; a joint scheme between western democracies. However, the UK government ruined this with the now infamous BAe Systems deal with Saudi Arabia, worth £10 billion, and the quashing of a corruption investigation
in the process.

The above are examples of locally based firms with a stake in arms industry. Regional development agency Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and the council positively encourages more aerospace companies to settle here. AWM have already had trips to the USA and Europe to entice more major arms firms over
here. A couple of years ago, AWM launched a PR offensive.
They set up and funded an industry lobby group, the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, for a tidy £1.5 million. AWM chipped in half of this, with the other half coming from their counterparts in the East Midlands Development Agency. AWM's own budget to promote the aerospace cluster is £2.4 million over three years. The government's generous support to
the arms business is already well known, but it's still a surprise to find it carrying down to local level.

The local authority and businesses have been dazzled by
the billions on offer. Labour Councillor Lawrence enthuses
that, 'Aerospace has all the qualities we in Wolverhampton are looking to encourage'. The by-products of corruption, repression, killing and climate damage are conveniently overlooked. The council also propose to rebrand
Wolverhampton as the 'Home of Aerospace' and seem to think that this will give the city a sleek, hi-tech, James Bond
image that will attract people to live here. They don't acknowledge the need to curb the immoral practices of the business.

How do attempts to expand local arms manufacturing fit in with government efforts to clamp down on the seedier side of the arms trade? The local economy will increasingly be tied into the war economy, and the war on terror is predicted to last a
generation. It's bad news for the world, but apparently good news for the prosperity of this city. Peace on earth? No thanks. Here we'll be praying for continued conflict.