Arms dealing - so easy kids could do it

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When I saw this on Keith Martin's site I thought "this has to be a joke", not least because Mark Thomas was a frequent guest on one of my favourite British comedy programmes when I was in secondary school, "the Mary Whitehouse Experience" on BBC Radio 1. Apparently arms brokerage is so easy school kids from the UK and Ireland have been test driving the arms and torture tools market legally via companies they set up called Williams Defence and Seachtar Associates. At the time the UK's legislation existed but with loopholes whereas Ireland had implemented none of the 2003 EU Common Position on arms brokerage.

On April 3rd Channel 4's Dispatches broadcast Mark Thomas' documentary.

Apparently legislation in Ireland has been forthcoming since but as the UK experience shows that legislation must be vigorously tested for loopholes. How many Yuri Orlovs have plied their trade in Ireland?

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