Bodies like GCHQ, the Ministry of Defence and BAE Systems are allying themselves with progressive social justice issues from feminism to LGBT rights. The rise of ‘woke’ politics is the perfect mask to obscure the dark underbelly of the UK military and intelligence world.

FREYA INDIA

30 March 2022

A rainbow flag flies from MI6’s headquarters. (Photo: Chris Ratcliffe / Getty)

“Our girls are spending the summer learning code and growing the sisterhood,” the feminist nonprofit, Girls Who Code, tweeted recently. “And it’s all thanks to partners like @raytheontech, who keep supporting our girls no matter what.”

Raytheon Technologies, one of the world’s largest arms companies and a major supplier to the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), recently teamed up with Girls Who Code to close the gender gap in science and technology. 

The weapons company also works closely with the Girls Scouts, combining their “vision about making the world a safer place” with “the girl scouts’ vision of making the world a better place”. 

Together they hope to “inspire the next generation”.

Whenever Raytheon isn’t inspiring young girls, though, it keeps itself busy by manufacturing guided missiles. In 2014, Raytheon UK secured its first export contract for the Paveway IV missile to Saudi Arabia – a £150 million deal for the sale of 2,400 bombs.

Since then, Raytheon has been a reliable supplier to Riyadh’s military campaign in Yemen, where thousands of civilians have been killed in air attacks. 

“This partnership may seem ludicrous, but it is just one example of a growing trend.”

The company supports young girls “no matter what” – that is, apart from those who were obliterated at a funeral service in 2016 when bombs traced back to Raytheon killed over 140 people. 

Or those who were burned alive and torn apart when Raytheon-made bombs hit a wedding party in 2018. 

Apparently, though, none of this is at odds with the company’s feminism. In fact, just two days after the wedding airstrike, Raytheon was busy tweeting about its new programme being “all the inspiration a girl scout needs”.

This partnership may seem ludicrous, but it is just one example of a growing trend. 

In recent years, organisations like GCHQ, the MoD and other arms companies like BAE Systems have allied themselves with progressive causes, championing social justice issues from feminism to LGBT rights. 

Ironically, the rise of ‘woke’ politics has been a blessing for these organisations: the perfect guise of progressivism to mask the dark underbelly of British ‘defence’ policy.